


I'm Genie for Your Wish

by dreaminginside



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Djinni & Genies, Fantasy, Fluff and Humor, M/M, a lot of memes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-04-28 10:31:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14447400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreaminginside/pseuds/dreaminginside
Summary: Current Jongdae is not sure that this is what Past Jongdae had exactly envisioned for himself in his quest for treasure and worldwide acclaim, but he is fine to continue rolling with the punches. Even when one is a knockout hit from a genie by the name of Baekhyun.





	I'm Genie for Your Wish

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #: L121  
> Monster(s): Genies  
> For better or worse, here it is! To my prompter, I hope that I didn't go too off the rails with...whatever this mash up of Aladdin, El Dorado, and One Piece is, and even though it's pretty much all slow and no burn, I hope that you enjoy it!! Many thanks to k for being my beta through thick and thin, and infinite thanks to all of my incredible friends who put up with my annoying whining and complaining, I love you guys, and thanks to mod vamp for all your hard work! Also thanks to Ariana Grande, who sang me through this one, even when it kept going and going and going. I truly have no tears left to cry.

_xx04, the eastern peninsula_

 

Jongdae is raised on stories of the sea.

Long before he can even dream of setting foot on a ship and exploring the waters himself, he listens with rapt attention to the stories and songs of sailors coming into the docks of his busy port town home.

His mother has long given up on stopping him from running down the hill to the docks, bare feet kicking down at the salty foam of the ocean as he sits on the edge of the loading decks and lets the activities of the docks wash down over him. He scampers up only when a new ship drops anchor, following the heels of anyone willing to regale him with tales of their adventures.

He is a familiar face at the local tavern for this reason, often weaving his way in between the tables to continue his near harassment of anyone willing to entertain his antics.

Many a fantastical tale has been collected in Jongdae’s head this way, navy sailors telling him of great military battles at sea, merchants imparting stories of their fanciful cargo, and the odd traveller or two doing their best to convince him of siren songs and sea monsters bringing down even the mightiest ships.

But Jongdae’s favorite storytellers are truly a rare sight, pirates.

“Come on Kyungsoo, you’ve got to come with me,” Jongdae whines, pulling futilely at his friend’s sleeve in an attempt to get him to follow him into town. He’d heard whispers in town of the Jolly Roger spotted waving in the port earlier in the day, and immediately set off running to find his friend, Kyungsoo also having arrived in town earlier that day. “You’re hardly ever around anymore, you’ve got to hang out with me and listen to the cool stories. It’s what best friends do!”

Kyungsoo looks skeptical, and doesn’t budge an inch. Jongdae’s pulling doesn’t let up either, and he thinks this is what an immovable object meeting an unstoppable force must look like.

Or in this case, a young and immovable Kyungsoo.

“Why do you always insist on dragging me into your awful ideas,” Kyungsoo says with a sigh as he unpeals Jongdae’s hands from his shirt and fixes him with a hard look. Jongdae is immune to Kyungsoo’s frowns after years of knowing him though, and simply redoubles his flailing. “You know your brother is going to give you one of _those_ lectures if we go, and that means I’ll have to listen to it too.”

Jongdae rolls his eyes at the mention of Junmyeon, a look of permanent stress seeming to be tattooed on his brother’s face ever since Jongdae declared his interest in pirates to the young navy cadet, though he is willing to gamble a lecture on the risks of talking to ‘dangerous’ strangers for the chance of hearing stories of treasure and adventure from real pirates. His grin widens as Kyungsoo continues talking though, knowing the tell tale signs of his friend’s resolve wavering. If Kyungsoo really didn’t want anything to do with Jongdae’s schemes, then he would have turned tail and walked away by now.

“And don’t guilt me, I can’t help it that my dad’s maps are in such demand,” Kyungsoo continues with a frown on his face, pointedly ignoring Jongdae’s grin. “You think I want to spend all my time riding around all of creation learning how to draw and decipher all of kingdom come?”

“Well yeah, because that is definitely a cool skill, but don’t you want to hear about what it’s like out on the sea?” Jongdae grins a bit more as Kyungsoo huffs but finally lets Jongdae curl his hand around his wrist and pull him closer to the town square. “You already get to travel all over with the caravan, just think about seeing everything across the ocean! All the adventures!”

“Your need for adventures are going to get us in real trouble one day, Jongdae.”

Jongdae’s laughter is bright as he pulls Kyungsoo along to the entrance of the tavern, skirting around the bouncer with the skill of someone who has done this too many times before.

The barkeep has long since given up on barring Jongdae entry, and simply rolls his eyes as Jongdae flashes a grin and weaves his way through the general patrons, the crowd definitely somewhat rowdier and more varied than usual. Jongdae takes this as a good sign and vaults himself up onto one of the stools at the bar, Kyungsoo scrambling up next to him as Jongdae narrows in on his target.

The pirate captain is easy to spot, even by Jongdae’s standards, and he settles his elbows up on the counter of the bar and flashes a disarming smile as he takes the man in.

He isn’t like the caricatures Jongdae has seen on wanted posters in the past, or the few crewmen he has managed to corral before. His hair is bleached sandy blonde from the sun and pushes back from his face into a messy bun, sleeves rolled up to his elbows to expose thick banded ink around his forearms, and Jongdae catches the low bar lighting glinting off the man’s gold earrings, line of hoops hanging off his earlobes.

He’s everything that Jongdae wants to be, and he can hear Kyungsoo groaning before he even opens his mouth. He wonders if that means he looks like he’s close to vibrating off the stool or not.

The barkeep fixes Jongdae with a look as he sets a full tankard down in front of the pirate, reaching a hand forward to swat at Jongdae’s elbows where they rest. “Please don’t bother our patrons, Jongdae,” he says with a sigh, words lilting even as Jongdae bristles, “Dragging poor Kyungsoo into your schemes tonight too I see, don’t make me have to call Junmyeon to come collect you again.”

“That was _one_ time, Yixing,” Jongdae grumbles, casting a glare and a whisper of _traitor_ at Kyungsoo when his friend snickers. It isn’t his fault that the navy crew that had come through the port last month took offense to his telling them they’ll never catch any pirates at their current competence levels. It was only the truth. “Kyungsoo and I just wanted to see if there were any good tales to be heard from the great captain that has graced our humble home.”

The pirate finally looks down to Jongdae on the stool and fixes him with a raised brow and a carefully blank look. Jongdae stares back undeterred, he’s had too many staring contests with Kyungsoo’s dead eyes to lose to anyone else.

“I’ll leave you boys to it then,” Yixing rolls his eyes and shares a look with Kyungsoo while the staring contest continues on. He sets two glasses of weak cider in front of them anyway, quirk of his lips fond before going off to take care of the other patrons. “Try to leave out any stories from when I was young and foolish, Yifan.”

“Yifan? That’s not a very cool name for a pirate,” Jongdae says while wrinkling his nose, ignoring the way Kyungsoo’s fingers pinch at the skin of his elbow in warning. “I want to hear about Yixing when he was young and foolish.”

“I actually want to hear about that too,” Kyungsoo says into his cider, stool scooted to be closer to Jongdae’s as he joins in on the stare off that Jongdae continues to be involved in. Jongdae cheers internally, a Kyungsoo staring at anyone without his glasses can be quite unnerving if you aren’t used to it.

“I am known by many names, but most call me Kris. Yixing is just someone who knows me from when we were your age,” Yifan, Maybe Kris, finally speaks, breaking the staring contest to Jongdae’s great satisfaction. His voice is low when he speaks, and Jongdae nearly feels giddy. “Though when he was sailing on my ship he went by Lay, so I suppose we’ve both had some changes happen.”

“Yixing was a pirate?” Jongdae’s eyebrows shoot up into his hairline, and his brain hums into overdrive trying to reconcile the somewhat soft hearted and forgetful barkeep with his visions of grandeur and fantastic piracy. He then remembers another somewhat important detail, slapping his hands down on the bar and causing Kyungsoo to jump slightly in his seat. Possibly-Kris doesn’t flinch, and Jongdae reconsiders his coolness levels. “Wait, _you’re_ Kris?”

“Yixing’s stories are his to tell, not mine, but that does appear to be what I said,” Likely-Kris, Perhaps-Yifan says as Jongdae leans more of his weight on his elbows, feet not touching the ground any longer as he leans in closer with furrowed brows. “You’ve heard of me, I presume?”

Jongdae throws his arms up in the air in excitement, and Kyungsoo reaches out to grab at the back of his shirt to make sure he doesn’t face plant onto the bar. It’s moments like this that make Jongdae incredibly thankful to have Kyungsoo, it wouldn’t do to die of embarrassment before his fourteenth birthday.

“ _You_ were the one the sailors were talking about last month,” Jongdae says as he regains his balance, large grin overtaking his face as he scoots as close as he can to Yifan, Kris, he doesn’t care what the man is called as long as he can answer all of his questions. “They said you have a huge bounty on your head! How much treasure have you found? Have you sank any navy ships? How did you get a ship? Did Yixing ever— ”

“Jongdae, slow down, your eyes are sparkling,” Kyungsoo mutters behind him, but Jongdae doesn’t care, he’s finally caught himself a big fish.

“Look, kid,” More-Kris-Than-Yifan begins, but he’s cut off by Jongdae before he can get much farther.

“Jongdae. My name is Jongdae and this is Kyungsoo and we’re going to be _pirates_ too, so answer my questions,” Jongdae knows when he gets excited his words start to blur together, fighting to get out of his mouth all at the same time, but he doesn’t mind that this is one of his less articulate moments. This is Exciting (with a capital E).

“Please.” He tacks on as an afterthought as Kyungsoo’s pinching fingers make a return to his elbow, but he’s guessing it may be more due to Jongdae dragging him into his fantasies of piracy than his lack of etiquette.

“Jongdae and Kyungsoo, then,” Kris-fan sighs out, but Jongdae thinks he can see a hint of a smile on the man’s lips belying that he is at least somewhat enjoying the attention. Jongdae hears Kyungsoo mumble _leave me out of this_ , but finds his elbow to return the pinch this time.“You should probably look to a more respectable career than piracy. I’m sure your parents don’t want you breaking the law in the name of gold and trinkets.”

Jongdae waves his hand dismissively, his parents have Junmyeon, they don’t need him to be that respectable anymore. 

He also thinks it would be somewhat fun to have Junmyeon chase him across the ocean, just like when he was too small to venture far beyond the confines of their yard and Junmyeon would tackle him under the palm trees. He misses that.

“Just tell us already,” He says instead, fidgeting in his seat and resisting the urge to shove at Kris. (Just Kris, Jongdae decides it sounds cooler).“Don’t you want to brag about your achievements or something anyway?”

“You’d better just tell him,” Kyungsoo chimes in, and Jongdae could nearly blind him with the grin he throws over his shoulder. “Jongdae’s whining is legendary, you’ll never know peace until he gets what he wants.”

Jongdae would take offense to that normally, but he knows Kyungsoo is helping him out and there are few things they haven’t been able to accomplish together whenever Kyungsoo is finally on board for Jongdae’s mischief.

 

“If you insist, I can’t have a kid following me around anyway,” Kris rolls his eyes, but Jongdae thinks that he really must be secretly enjoying the attention as the corners of his lips seem to be fighting to keep a stoic expression on his face. Jongdae holds his hand behind his back for Kyungsoo to slap in a somewhat botched high five, the power of teamwork. 

He listens with rapt attention as Kris describes his humble pirate beginnings, stowing away on a known captain’s ship and begging to join the crew, picking up Yixing as another deckhand at a port along the way. Yixing shoots them a warning glance from across the bar when Kris describes how scrawny he was, but lets the story continue regardless, Jongdae’s eyes growing wider with every word dropped from Kris’s lips.

“You organized a mutiny and took over the ship? That’s so cool,” Jongdae has his head rested on his elbow on the bar as he keeps his head tilted up towards the pirate, Kyungsoo still sitting at attention and keeping Jongdae from bouncing too far off his seat. “You escaped sirens and found real dragon gold? That’s so...cool!”

“If you say _that’s so cool_ any more they’re going to make a drinking game out of it over there, Jongdae,” Kyungsoo pokes at him, but Jongdae can see Kyungsoo’s smile from his sideways view of the world and feels a bit of gratification that Kyungsoo is so invested in this now. “Just let him finish.”

“I’m not sure what else you want to hear really, there’s no helpful manual to becoming a pirate,” Kris shrugs, draining the tankard in his hand and giving a noncommittal shrug to Jongdae’s frown as he inches closer on the bar surface. “I wouldn’t really call it a career of choice for most.”

“Isn’t there any great treasure you’re searching for? There has to be something you’re looking for with all the legends out there on the ocean, I’ve heard about them from the other sailors,” Jongdae says with a slight pout, happy for all the stories swimming in his head but still wanting more. He’s greedy like that, he’s been told. “You can’t hold out on us now.”

Kris is silent for a long moment, one brow raised and face devoid of any emotion, and Jongdae fears that he’s going to have to enter another staring contest. Or have Kyungsoo stare for him, which is at least ten times stronger on a good day, when Kris rolls his eyes and sighs.

“Well, there is El Dorado.”

Jongdae blinks at the name, racking his brain to think of if he’s ever heard of it before. A quick perusal through his memory tells him he hasn’t, and he just blinks at Kris as he waits for him to elaborate. He’s starting to think that the pirate is really getting a kick out of this, despite his constant somewhat constipated expression. He’s really going to have to ask Yixing more about all of this later.

“The city of gold?” Kyungsoo’s voice breaks Jongdae out of his thoughts, and he sits back up to fix Kyungsoo with a questioning look, feeling somewhat out of the loop. “What, I do know about some worldly things. Dad’s been asked about it a couple of times at the cartography guild in the Capital, if it’s on any world maps.”

“That’s the one,” Kris says, snapping his fingers in Kyungsoo’s direction. Jongdae oogles at the thick gold bands around his fingers, and thinks if he were a better thief then he would try to snatch one. Skills to work on. “The lost city of gold and wonder, or possibly a kingdom, no one really knows. There are plenty of pirates out there looking for it, and my crew happened to be one of them until I decided it was a fool’s errand.”

“No one knows where it is, only that it’s likely somewhere in the West if it does exist,” Kyungsoo says with a shrug Jongdae’s eyes grow to the size of saucers. He wants to know why Kyungsoo never told him about this before, but that’s something to sort out later. “That’s what all the other map makers seem to agree on at least, no one has any real evidence that it’s even real, just a lot of empty handed pirates.”

“We never did find even a hint of it, just moved on to more concrete conquests,” Kris muses in reply, cutting his eyes across the bar and tipping his glass in Yixing’s direction. “It hasn’t been the same without Yixing around either, he jumped ship after another failed goose chase up north five years back.” 

Yixing shakes his head as he grabs the handle of Kris’s glasses refilling it with a roll of his eyes. “And like I haven’t been better off without you running me ragged across the whole ocean chasing ghosts and shiny things.”

Jongdae meanwhile tilts his head side to side, letting the rush of new information thunk against the sides of his skull, and with all the care and precision of one his age comes to a snap decision. 

“Then it’s still out there, right? El Dorado?” He cuts through Yixing and Kris’s conversation, picking himself up off the stool with somewhat of a grimace and grabbing Kyungsoo’s hand to help him do the same. His butt was really starting to fall asleep. “I’ll be the one to find it then!”

“ _What_.”

“Sorry, Kyungsoo. _We_ will be the ones to find it!”

“That’s not what I meant you—”

“You’d need to wish upon a star for that to happen,” Kris’s words and sharp laughter cut through Kyungsoo’s exasperation and Jongdae whips his head around to see Yixing drag his hand down over his face, a sure sign that a call to Junmyeon is near minutes away. Jongdae has what he wants anyway, gears turning in his head with alarming speed, and so he gives a cheerful wave with the hand not clutching Kyungsoo’s wrist.

“Thanks for your stories,” He directs at Kris, shooting him a grin that’s all teeth and maybe more than a little cockiness. “Make sure to look out for me on the sea one day when I’m a hugely successful pirate and have found way more treasure than you! _And_ my bounty will be higher!”

“But don’t tell Junmyeon!” He calls back over his shoulder as he drags Kyungsoo out of the tavern with all the whirlwind that they came in with, not sticking around to hear Kris’s response and weaving through tables that are still full and highly more inebriated since they entered. Jongdae doesn’t think much as he half drags a sputtering Kyungsoo down to the edge of the docks, quiet of the night a stark contrast to all the noise that has surrounded them for most of the evening.

Jongdae sits down hard on the wood of the dock and shucks off his shoes to let the soles of his feet glide across the top of the water. It’s always been easier for him to think like this, surrounded by the sea and the sound of the night breeze rustling through the tied sails of the docked ships. Kyungsoo sits cross legged besides him, and Jongdae lets the silence sit for a moment longer before directing a curled smile in Kyungsoo’s direction.

Kyungsoo has always been good at knowing when to let Jongdae collect himself, for the rapid fire thoughts to slow down into something ready to come out of his mouth.

“I was being serious, you know,” He says after a long minute, tilting his head in Kyungsoo’s direction. The moonlight glances across the gentle waves enough for Jongdae to see the tiny ripples his feet make, and he thinks that there could be no better future than the sea and treasure. “We could do it, Kyungsoo.”

“We could do what, huh? Be pirates?” Kyungsoo raises a brow and Jongdae has the decency to be a bit bashful, but nonetheless holds Kyungsoo’s gaze. “With what ship and crew then? You haven’t thought this one through very well, Jongdae.”

“Well there’s me, the Captain obviously,” Jongdae says, sticking up his index finger to tick off _one_ and throws up a second to turn it into a peace sign that he pushes against Kyungsoo’s chest. “And you can be my navigator! I know you don’t want to travel around making maps for nobles forever anyway, this will be way more fun. We can recruit more people as needed, I’ll be so dashing and charming by then that I can’t imagine who wouldn’t want to join my crew.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes but there’s a smile pulling at his lips as he bats Jongdae’s hand away, and Jongdae knows he’s sitting on the winning side of both the battle and the war.

“And the ship? Do we just magic it into existence?”

“Well,” Jongdae pulls his hands back to rest his chin on them, kicking a bit harder at the waves. “We’ll just have to steal one when the time comes, won’t we? It’ll be a very pirate thing to do.”

Jongdae hears Kyungsoo huff and turns his head to whine at him a bit more in an effort to convince him, but when he looks over all he can see is a wide smile on Kyungsoo’s face, the kind that makes his mouth look like a rounded off heart.

“You _would_ say that,” Kyungsoo says with a short laugh, stretching out his legs so they knock against Jongdae’s above the ocean foam. “Fine, you win, let’s be pirates when we grow up.”

Jongdae’s grin is blinding as he bumps their shoulders together, and he wonders if he’ll be able to convince Kyungsoo so easily to pierce his ears as well, or if maybe Yerim will be more up to the task. She could probably join his crew too, if they wait long enough. He’s still thinking of gold and treasure when a grip like iron clamps down on his shoulders, startling him so badly he nearly knocks Kyungsoo off the edge of the dock.

“Oh, hey Junmyeon,” Jongdae grins in a way that he hope says he hasn’t been up to his usual tricks. By the way Junmyeon looks a sneeze away from total decimation, he’s guessing that it isn’t working very well. “I don’t suppose that Yixing told you we were here?”

Junmyeon looks at him the same way the dead fish look back at him in the market, and Jongdae assumes that means, yes, Yixing did rat them out.

“You are _insufferable_ , Jongdae,” Junmyeon sighs, only partially releasing his grip on Jongdae so he can haul both him and Kyungsoo up, dragging them up the dock so quickly that Jongdae has to scramble to get a grip on his forsaken shoes. “Pirates? Again? When are you going to give up these silly stories, you’re going to give me gray hairs before I’m twenty at this rate.”

“Like you don’t already have them,” Jongdae shoots back, and he doesn’t have to see Junmyeon’s face to know that his brother is rolling his eyes at him, finally getting his footing back from Junmyeon’s dragging. Kyungsoo seems content to let himself be deadweight, and Jongdae holds back a laugh. “Face it Junmyeon, one day you’ll be chasing me across the sea just like when we used to play pirates in the yard.”

“Over my dead body,” Junmyeon says under his breath, and Jongdae wiggles out from Junmyeon’s grip to snatch the Navy sailor hat off his head, running furiously ahead as Junmyeon squawks and drops Kyungsoo unceremoniously behind him as he makes to chase after Jongdae.

Jongdae’s laugh rings out in the night as Junmyeon tackles him into the sand to wrench his hat back, and even with a mouth full of sand Jongdae can still see a city full of gold behind his eyes when he closes them.

It seems like a bright future.

 

…

 

_xx19, no man’s land, cavern of the goddess_

 

The future is in fact not so much bright, as it is the inside of a dark and damp cavern.

Current Jongdae is not sure that this is what Past Jongdae had exactly envisioned for himself in the quest for treasure and worldwide acclaim, but he is fine to continue rolling with the punches. He had rather hoped the punches wouldn’t have included so many supposed cursed locations and treasures, but he’s fine to charge into them headfirst regardless.

Jongdae is not a superstitious man by nature.

He’s always felt that sailors are given a bad reputation to be naturally superstitious, if not somewhat of a fair description due to the somewhat ridiculously long list of fears and charms that most carry close to their heart. But Jongdae feels you could ask any member of his crew to vouch for them. His crew proudly hosts a woman, he will whistle wherever he would like on his ship, and there certainly aren’t any monsters of the deep lurking out there to sink his ship if you ask him. He’s sure that those monsters are also just plagued by bad reputation, and are certainly benevolent if given the chance. If there’s one pirate sailing the ocean that isn’t afraid of some old wives’ tales, it is Kim Jongdae.

He supposes that this knowledge is the reason he stands alone in the aforementioned unpleasant cavern that had been carefully marked on the map Kyungsoo had drafted for him from the fragments found from their most recent goose chase across the ocean, supposedly cursed chest of treasures sitting somewhat innocently at his feet.

“ _Well you don’t believe in curses anyway_ he says,” Jongdae huffs as he pulls out his lock pick from the pouch on his belt, setting his lamp down beside him and dropping his voice an octave in a somewhat poor imitation of Kyungsoo. “ _Shouldn’t our fearless Captain be the one to retrieve the loot?_ He is so full of shit.”

“I can’t believe Minseok backed him up too,” He continues the tirade at the as of yet still innocent chest, reaching into his pocket to fish out a small iron pick to begin working on the lock. “They’re all having a great time on the ship waiting for me to be supposedly done in by all the demons hiding away inside you, but won’t they have a surprise when I come back with arms full of gold.”

Jongdae is aware that he is talking to an inanimate object, and he does not care.

“You’re no El Dorado, but you’ll do for now,” He carries on, spending enough time trying to jimmy the lock that he starts to wonder if he should just shoot it off instead. He’s rather eager to get a good haul out of this, his crew has gone weeks now without any substantial return for their exploits. “They say size isn’t everything anyway, right? I’m sure you have some lovely valuables inside if you’d just open up for me.”

Jongdae eyes the chest patiently for a long moment to the tune of nothing happening, and thinks that perhaps his treasure sweet talk could use some work.

If he’s being quite honest with himself, he and his crew haven’t had the most successful run of plunders recently, their last big success having been a hidden cache at the Palm Isles two months back, and he thinks this is just the kind of morale boost they all need. And if he doesn’t come back with something positive then perhaps it would be best if the chest _was_ cursed and led him to his doom, because he thinks that Yerim will sink him into the sea if this is another empty handed treasure hunt.

Minutes pass, and he’s about ready to give up and actually shoot the lock off, Minseok’s voice in his head telling him it’s a waste of bullets be damned, when the lock finally gives a satisfying clink, falling down into one of the myriad of puddles at Jongdae’s feet.

Jongdae gives a short exclamation that ricochets off the walls, flicking up the now free latch to lift the heavy metal top of the chest, nose scrunching up at the way the metal creaks, “Now let’s see what you have for me.”

There’s a long beat of silence as Jongdae wrenches the chest open to full capacity, but while he expects gold and gems, the remnants of a cursed long forgotten pirate’s cache as had been promised by the locals of the neighboring island when Kyungsoo had enquired at the cartography guild, what greets him instead is emptiness.

“Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me.”

To say that it is total emptiness is a lie, but the only thing sitting dead center in the middle of the chest is a tarnished and rather sad looking antiqued lamp.

“I trusted you,” Jongdae grumbles, hooking his pinky through the loop of the lamp, holding it up to examine it more closely. “Sweet talked you and everything, and all you have to offer me is this ugly thing?” It really is quite ugly, designs carved into the metal at seemingly random, long tarnished by wear and rust. He almost hopes it curses him after all. “Which is made of what, tin? Not even some gold to sell? They’re going to kill me now, and it’s all on your cheap head.”

He takes the most logical course of action and tosses the lamp into the abyss behind him in a fit of irritation, fare thee well. He’s not sure if it may just be wiser to just come back empty handed, and he can see Kyungsoo’s stormy expression in his mind’s eye as he goes about poking at the bottom of the chest instead, secretly hoping for a trap door to be there hiding the actual treasure.

He thinks it is possible that as captain he should be striking more fear into the hearts of his crew rather than vice versa, but they’ve always done things a bit unconventionally. Their own ship was repurposed from the Navy for this higher cause of adventure and debauchery, for one.

He hopes that Junmyeon isn’t too sore about that still.

He snickers a bit at the memory of Junmyeon’s last letter, teeming with irritation five years after the fact, swearing he can still hear him yelling when he’d realized they’d snuck off during the island’s festivities to pilfer the ship, when he hears a distinct clanking noise echo throughout the cavern. Jongdae whips around instantly, chest forgotten, and scans the area for signs of who caused the noise. Very unsettling considering he knows there is only one way in, and there definitely wasn’t anyone behind him when he came in.

“Kyungsoo? Is that you?” He ventures nervously. Kim Jongdae isn’t scared of no things, especially not fake curses. Which definitely aren’t real. “You might as well turn around, there isn’t anything of value here it seems—” 

☆ ☆ **POOF** ☆ ☆ 

Jongdae doesn’t really understand what just happened, but he knows it was loud and that the cavern is now filled with very silvery smoke, and he doesn’t remember Kyungsoo ever having been able to do that. He’s pretty sure glittery smoke bombs are beyond Yerim’s capabilities as well, as much as she would probably enjoy that.

In the center of the smoke sits the lamp, as sad looking as when he first saw it, and Jongdae sighs in irritation even if he didn’t think he threw the lamp in that direction exactly. A logical explanation as usual, and the smoke is most likely just gases escaping the cavern walls which...he probably should be concerned about, actually.

“Thank goodness it was just you, my sad looking friend—”

“Can you _stop_ making derogatory remarks about my lamp already, you useless human?”

Jongdae jumps to his feet and reaches for his gun at the sound of the unfamiliar voice echoing off the cavern walls, whipping his head around until his vision lands on a figure standing next to the lamp, smoke clearing a bit more to reveal a rather irritated looking silver haired man with his hands on his hips.

“I’m sorry?” Jongdae isn’t sure if he’s apologizing to the man or if he didn’t hear correctly, possibly a mixture of both. He always feels the ghost of Junmyeon’s infamous smacks when he even thinks about forgetting his manners. His hand stays on his pistol, though. “Considering I found the lamp I would say it’s _mine_ though, finders keepers and all, so I should be able to call it whatever I want.”

Jongdae has always been a fan of logic over hasty conclusions, so while the shimmering air, confusing star laden POOF text, and sudden appearance of the man could absolutely point to supernatural shenanigans, Jongdae is just as willing to believe it’s an intruder trying to cut in on the possible treasure haul.

“The lamp is my home, you idiot,” The man says, somewhat even more questionable now if he’s really thinking Jongdae is stupid enough to believe he lived in a lamp, and glares at Jongdae. He seems to pause a bit in what seemed to have been the beginnings of a work up to a full fury as his eyes finally scan slowly over Jongdae, pausing on the rings of gold in his ears before giving a slow drag over his face and meeting his eyes again. Jongdae hopes the weirdo isn’t going to try and steal his earrings, attempts have been made before. “Haven’t you ever heard of genies?”

“I’ve heard of them,” Jongdae says because he has, a short page in his book of Creatures to Watch out for on the Sea dedicated to genies and their various subcategories, but there really isn’t much known about them. “But I don’t see why that matters when you’re most likely just here to try and steal some gold from under my nose after I did all the work. Which, newsflash, this rumor was a bust.”

“Why are the pretty ones always so empty headed,” The man sighs dramatically into his hand, shimmering smoke finally dying down enough for Jongdae to get a complete view of the man, and Jongdae lets out an affronted noise at the backhanded compliment. He won’t deny that flattery is the quickest way to his good graces, though. “ _I’m_ the genie of this lamp, and seeing as you have picked it up, custom dictates you are now my new master. It’s typical that things would turn out like this for me, it really is. And put down that peashooter, we both know you’re not going to shoot me.”

Jongdae gives a lukewarm stare, but holsters his pistol anyway as the other doesn’t seem to be armed in any way, and Jongdae would dare him to try to go for a fist fight. He can last a whole three minutes brawling with Minseok, and that makes him a better hand to hand fighter than at least half the population.

“Baekhyun, reality warping and wish granting genie of the highest caliber, at your service,” The man? The genie? The Baekhyun? Crosses an arm over his chest and bows mockingly low at Jongdae, flourishing back up and cocking his head at Jongdae in reply to the answering silence. “Am I not going to be done the honor of being given my rude new master’s name at least?”

“Can you stop calling me master? I’m not into that kink,” Jongdae grumbles, but suppresses a small smile at Baekhyun’s responding snort. Crazy people are their own special type of endearing. “You can call me Jongdae, soon to be the greatest pirate on the sea. Once I start finding real treasure and not just dingy lamps attached to crazy people.”

Baekhyun also looks entirely too...normal for Jongdae to believe his ramblings about granting wishes and warping reality. His silvery hair is unique, as are the matching grey eyes, but he doesn’t look anything like the animated looking creatures in Jongdae’s book, or from what he’s heard in the few bar tales existing about wish granting entities. His skin is neither red or blue or anything else out of the ordinary, face soft looking and very human, clothes relatively simple save the gold thread lining his sleeves. Jongdae isn’t buying the mysticism Baekhyun is trying to sell him.

“He kinkshames me _and_ insults my home in the same breath, how very endearing you are,” Baekhyun clucks his tongue, bending to pick up the lamp and smudging away some of the grime with the sleeve of his shirt before holding it out for Jongdae to take. “Ye of little faith, one would think a pirate would be more aware of magical beings. Did you expect me to come out of the lamp screaming with blue skin and fireworks? This isn’t a movie, Jongdae.”

Busted. That is exactly what Jongdae was expecting. He also doesn’t know what a movie is, but he’s sure that Baekhyun is absolutely making fun of him.

Baekhyun grins wide, revealing extremely mundane human teeth, and Jongdae huffs.

“Prove it then,” Jongdae says, ignoring the jab and taking the lamp regardless, because he _did_ find it after all. And he has a feeling he’s going to need to start running soon to shake off this lunatic. “Do some good old fashioned reality warping to convince me.”

“I suppose I can give you a freebie since you’re cute, but you should know you’ll only get three wishes when it comes down to it,” Baekhyun says, ticking three fingers in front of Jongdae’s face. Jongdae notices the gold rings on his fingers now, and wonders how hard it would be to pull them off before making the run for it. “What would you like to see to make you believe?”

“Well,” Jongdae stalls for time, because he hadn’t exactly thought it through that far. He’d figured the act would have been dropped by now. “Get creative? You’re the one who can apparently warp reality here, not me.”

“How boring,” Baekhyun sighs, rolling up his sleeves and cracking his knuckles. Jongdae wonders if his eyes are playing tricks on him as silvery sparks bounce around Baekhyun’s hands, “I was prepared to be generous and let you have whatever you wanted without adding it to your tally too...but since you’ve been so kind to ask my opinion...” Baekhyun cocks his hip out and seems to think for a moment before letting out and exclamation. “I’ve got it! I’ve always wanted to re-enact this, actually.”

Before Jongdae can ask what _this_ is, his feet are off the ground, ass floating in mid-air and _oh yes, this is very unsettling_.

“Swept you off your feet, didn’t I?” Baekhyun’s cheeky laughter echoes in the cavern and Jongdae wants to reply with a scathing remark, lamp still clutched in his hands, when while still very much in midair he suddenly lands on a carpet that seems to have appeared from nowhere. Baekhyun apparates next to him in an instant and looks quite pleased with himself as _holy shit is that lava_ starts to fill the cavern behind them. “I know I’m mixing scenes up here, but I did always think this would be a lot of fun.”

“Oh, there should be a monkey too, shouldn’t there?” Baekhyun continues, heedless of Jongdae’s growing panic, and with a snap of Baekhyun’s fingers a rather tiny and irritated monkey lands on Jongdae’s head. “Come on Sehun, you know I wouldn’t summon you for anything less than a higher cause, I’ll change you back eventually.”

“Squeak,” Squeaks Sehun the Monkey, still seeming irritated as he grips Jongdae’s hair.

“What scenes? There’s a monkey in my hair? Why is the floor lava?” Jongdae’s eyes are wide as he stares at Baekhyun, who certainly looks pleased as he taps at the back of the carpet, and suddenly they’re zipping through the cavern as the lava chases after them. Jongdae feels a bit like he’s going to hurl as Baekhyun guides the carpet through an upward loop as they finally break through to the night air, lava spilling out from behind them and into the waiting sea as they soar up into the sky.

“It’s inconsequential,” Baekhyun waves a hand, leaning back a bit as he notices the green pallor to Jongdae’s skin. He taps Jongdae’s cheek with a sparking finger and the nausea suddenly fades, Jongdae left to stare at him again as Baekhyun gestures grandly at the stars in the sky. Sehun hops from Jongdae’s hair over to Baekhyun’s, seeming to make a valiant effort at tearing his ear off to no avail. “Come on Jongdae, sing it with me, _I can show you the world_.”

Baekhyun’s grinning as he spouts a few lines, and Jongdae thinks that even if he knew what Baekhyun is singing he probably wouldn’t sing along because _what the fuck is happening to him_.

“ _Over sideways and under_ ,” Baekhyun croons with a wink, and Jongdae thinks okay, maybe he is a genie, but he is definitely also a lunatic. “I’ve omitted the rest for copyright laws, I hope that you can understand.” Jongdae doesn’t understand, because he doesn’t understand any of this actually. “Was that enough proof? Or would you like me to conjure you seventy five golden camels? June thinks they’re lovely.”

“Does this timeline really not have Aladdin? You’re missing out, it’s the most entertaining piece of genie propaganda out there,” Baekhyun continues, unfettered by Jongdae’s blank stare with a shake of his head, and Jongdae figures all this rambling is either just to mess with him, or something to do with the reality warping Baekhyun mentioned. Maybe a little of both. It’s at that moment that Jongdae makes the mistake of looking down, and sees how far in the air they really are, one hand releasing its grip on the lamp to hurriedly cover his mouth.

“Are all genies as strange as you, or is this a Baekhyun genie specific thing?” He grumbles as Baekhyun pats at his cheeks again and the urge to regurgitate his innards dies down again. “But now that I clearly believe you and all...is there any chance of taking us back to land?”

Baekhyun waves his hand and the carpet descends slowly, Jongdae feeling the slow tingles of relief as the island the cavern was on becomes less of a speck, shoreline coming into view as well. At least the trek back to the ship should be easier via enchanted carpet than when Jongdae had to carve his way through the mountains to get there.

Which reminds him, he isn’t too sure how he’s going to go about explaining this to his crew. He thinks he may turn a little bit green again imagining if Kyungsoo insists on having a similar method of Baekhyun proving his genie...ness. He can only handle one lava death trap carpet ride in his lifetime, he thinks.

“Is that a wish?” Baekhyun grins again, teeth making a perfect box as Jongdae gives him a look that screams _are you serious_. He hasn’t given much thought to his wishes yet, but he isn’t going to be one of those idiots who wastes them, or gets tricked into using them by accident. “I’m kidding, lighten up. I’ve been in that lamp so long it’s just fun to talk with someone who _isn't_ a genie. Even careless humans who don’t know the value of what they’re picking up.”

“Can you really blame me? Your little house here really was in sad condition, did your last master throw you in the sea before locking you in that chest and throwing away the key?” Jongdae muses, surprised when Baekhyun actually grimaces at the mention of his last master. Once he starts thinking on that he falls down the question rabbit hole, though, firing them off as the descent continues. “Speaking of, how long were you in there? Quite rude for someone to have started spreading the rumor there supposedly a cavern where the old Pirate Queen had hidden her greatest treasure when it was well...you. And take us to the my ship please, a request not a wish.”

Baekhyun leans his head on his hand and looks decidedly more gloomy, Sehun now comfortably perched on his head as Baekhyun waves his hand in the direction of the largely abandoned docks of the island, and Jongdae feels some small relief when he sees the flag of his ship come into view.

“You’re really killing the mood of this romantic carpet ride bringing previous masters up and implying I’m _not_ the greatest treasure there is,” Baekhyun sighs, and Jongdae snorts, noticing with some interest that Baekhyun’s hair has shifted to a darker grey with his mood. He’s had more romantic evenings passed out in the mud next to Minseok though, to be honest. “But since you asked, I’ll give you some of my sordid backstory.”

“SQUEAK,” Sehun squeaks insistently before Baekhyun can continue, and Jongdae watches the monkey swing from Baekhyun’s hair down to his shoulder, pulling persistently at the chain connecting Baekhyun’s earrings.

“Yes, yes, you can go now, Sehun,” Baekhyun grimaces, swatting the monkey off his shoulder and off the carpet in general. Jongdae scrambles for a moment in an attempt to grab Sehun before he falls to his doom, but with another ☆ POOF ☆ he’s gone in a shower of green sparkles. Baekhyun seems nonplussed about the entire affair, rubbing at his neck with a frown. “Elemental genies are so fussy, you call in one favor and make your friend a monkey and he can’t even play along.”

Baekhyun sighs deeply, and Jongdae thinks this isn’t exactly the adventures his younger self had in mind.

“Anyway, let’s get back to me, shall we?”

“My last master was your so called _Pirate Queen_ , which I know because that was one of her wishes,” Baekhyun wrinkles his nose and seems to lose a bit of concentration on their navigation, the carpet skimming a tree top for a moment before the carpet rights itself again. “Taeyeon and I had...a history. Surmise to say, I wasn’t supposed to be contracted to this lamp again after her, but due to her last wish I was stuck in there and locked away in that chest for...judging by genie world to here conversion, seventy years? And now you’ve picked me up.”

Jongdae’s eyebrows hit his hairline at that one, and he feels thirty more questions build themselves up on his tongue at the same time.

“You knew the Pirate Queen, Kim Taeyeon? Wow, it’s like meeting a celebrity indirectly,” Jongdae mutters, because everyone knows Kim Taeyeon. Legendary captain of the Lion Heart, boasting an all women crew and boasting a reputation as one of the most pirate crews on the sea in the last century before disappearing— “Wait, _seventy years_? You look my age! And aren’t genies supposed to be in lamps anyway? What would her wish have to do with it?”

Jongdae feels like he just hit the pirate gossip mill win of the century, and he hopes his eyes aren’t sparkling too much again, a habit Kyungsoo never fails to point out that he hasn’t kicked.

“You’re full of conversation now that you think I’m not just some crazy person, aren’t you,” Baekhyun rolls his eyes, now a darker gray to match his hair as they start the descent onto the docks. Jongdae has always loved the sea, but he thinks that air travel is really not for him and he may just kiss the ground when they finally get close enough to hop off. “And you know, genies, semi-immortality and slowed aging, the whole bit. It was pretty boring though, thanks for asking.”

Yet again, Jongdae does in fact not know, but he let’s Baekhyun keep on talking regardless.

“I’ll be young and beautiful looking for at least fifty years more, don’t you fret.” Baekhyun says with a wink in Jongdae’s direction, extending a hand to him to help him off the carpet that ☆ POOF ☆ shimmers away, and Jongdae isn’t sure how he is supposed to feel about this possible interspecies flirting. “Especially since after you use up your wishes, I’ll only have about thirty human years left on my extra hundred years she added to me being stuck in the lamp. Genies are born just like regular people, you know? I wasn’t always stuck in the lamp. But you aren’t far enough in the story to get to hear the bad breakup tale and genie physiology lesson yet, sorry Jongdae.”

“ _Bad breakup story_? With the Pirate Queen?” Jongdae says, considering himself colored even more interested now, but stops walking suddenly to jab a hand at Baekhyun’s chest. “Wait, no, I’m not wishing for you to tell me. That would be stupid. Just because you want me to waste my wishes away quickly doesn’t mean I will!”

“Who says that’s what I want? Maybe I enjoy the pleasure of your company, oh great captain,” Baekhyun says, eyes and hair sparkling back to a white silver, and Jongdae doesn’t know how to deal with the now definite interspecies flirting, or definite making fun of him, happening, so elects to do the tried and true approach of simply not dealing with it at all. 

“Well anyway—”

“KIM JONGDAE!”

Jongdae is further saved from dealing with magical entities by the name of Baekhyun by Kyungsoo’s voice bellowing his name in the time practiced tone of _You Are In Some Shit Now, Jongdae_ , as he jogs down the docks with heavy steps towards the two of them.

“Wow, what impeccable timing you have, Kyungsoo,” Jongdae laughs nervously, holding the lamp out in front of him like it will protect him from Kyungsoo’s wrath. It doesn’t seem likely, the lamp is still rather sad looking at best no matter what Baekhyun says. “I promise there’s a very rational explanation for all of this so don’t—”

He ducks in time to miss Kyungsoo’s fist swing a hook at his head. Kyungsoo always leads with the right hook when he’s mad, and Jongdae’s glad he finally took enough fists to the face to unlock the ability to dodge them a solid seventy percent of the time. He loses his balance a bit though, and the lamp goes clanking down the docks as he feints right to avoid Kyungsoo’s second fist.

“Do you have _any_ idea how worried we’ve been?” Kyungsoo fumes, ignoring Baekhyun entirely as the genie scampers after the lamp and picks it up before it makes a nosedive into the ocean, looking quite affronted as Jongdae makes a grab for Kyungsoo’s arms. “You’ve been gone hours longer than you were supposed to, and Minseok saw the smoke rising from outside the cavern from the crow’s nest. What were you doing? Did you somehow find a bar in a cave to pick up more pretty boys? I don’t see any treasure _and_ you had me afraid you were sent down to Davy Jones’ Locker!”

“Aw, Soo, you really do care,” Jongdae grins, finally getting a loose hold on Kyungsoo’s wrists as Kyungsoo rolls his eyes so hard Jongdae wonders if they’ll fall onto the dock and keep on rolling. He does feel a bit guilty now though, he didn’t think his crew would see the possible lava implosion from the cavern. “But there is treasure! Sort of! That would be Baekhyun, here.”

Jongdae gestures in what he hopes is a grand manner at Baekhyun, somewhat hoping for him to do something convincing or at least _☆ POOF ☆ -y_ to make Kyungsoo look at him like he’s less of a crazy person. He thinks he sees Minseok looking over the side of the ship with interest as well, and groans.

“You’re in the habit of picking up pretty boys at the bar?” Baekhyun drawls instead, twirling the lamp around his pinkie finger before pressing it back against Jongdae’s chest. Jongdae sighs and hooks it onto his belt next to his pistol, since Baekhyun seems to be so insistent on Jongdae holding onto it. “I’m flattered to live up to your standards.”

Kyungsoo is looking between them like he can’t decide who is the bigger lunatic, and Jongdae finds that he doesn’t really have the capabilities of arguing either point at this moment.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but what’s the point of being a dashing pirate captain if I can’t sweep some handsome men off their feet,” Jongdae grumbles and feels a headache coming on, his voice pitching in the whiny way that he feels has somehow become his trademark. “Can you please act a little bit more like valuable treasure?” 

“And here I thought we had something special, I don’t just take every human who comes upon my lamp on a magic carpet ride,” Baekhyun feigns a frown, but his lips twitch a bit too much and give him away. He turns to Kyungsoo though, and Jongdae wonders if the universe is going to finally take mercy on him. “My name is Baekhyun, known as your valuable treasure, and Jongdae here is the new master of my lamp.”

No such luck, it seems, Kyungsoo’s eye twitching as he gives Jongdae A Look.

“ _Master_ —”

“GENIE! He’s a genie!” Jongdae does not need to have the kinkshaming speech from Kyungsoo today. He’s seen what his friend gets up to in the tavern alleyways. “Bending reality and making wishes come true, the whole bit. Baekhyun is our ticket to fame and fortune.”

“Reality warping and wish granting, get it right,” Baekhyun grumbles under his breath. “I can prove it to you, would you maybe like to be as strong as ten regular men—”

“He’s strong enough as it is, trust me,” Jongdae cuts Baekhyun off, ignoring Kyungsoo’s _no, actually I would be interested in that_ in favor of grabbing both of their wrists to pull them up the docks. “Come on, let’s just get back on the ship so this only has to be explained once.”

“Seems like you ended up causing trouble again, Jongdae?” Minseok yells down at them once they’re close enough to make their way onto the ship. Yerim is at his shoulder looking on curiously, eyes lasered in on Baekhyun, and Jongdae is willing to bet that Jongin is sleeping below deck. “Care to explain why an entire half of the island, which doesn’t have a volcano mind you, erupted and yet here you stand? I thought Kyungsoo was going to start trying to take up magic himself from that book of yours these past few hours to bring you back from the dead to give you a piece of his mind if you didn’t show up.”

“But you had faith in me right?” Jongdae grins, letting go of Kyungsoo and Jongdae to clasp Minseok’s wrist as he’s pulled up onto the deck. A quick scan shows that everything is still as he left it, which is good, because they certainly aren’t going to get a ship as good as this ever again if something stupid were to happen. 

“We had a card game to finish before starting to get too worried, Yerim was dangerously close to winning a week off deck duties,” Minseok says dryly, smile wide enough to show his gums before he raises an eyebrow at Baekhyun. “But it’s good to see you back, along with...a stray you picked up?”

“He calls Jongdae _master_ is all you need to know,” Kyungsoo says offendedly, startling a laugh out of Minseok as Jongdae groans again. “I’ll go get Jongin, it looks like we need a family meeting.”

“You really have a small crew, don’t you?” Baekhyun raises a brow, surreptitiously eyeing Jongdae’s ship. “I can’t say I’m that impressed, Taeyeon had girls falling over themselves to join up. Even before she became Her Majesty with all the treasure she wished for.”

“We get by, until our next paycheck turns out to be a chatty genie and not the treasure trove that was promised,” Jongdae says defensively, seeing Kyungsoo dragging a decidedly sleepy looking Jongin up from below. “There is one more but he... kind of comes and goes as he pleases. Useless.”

“A _genie_?” Yerim speaks up before Baekhyun can question Jongdae’s resigned expression, still eyeing Baekhyun a bit critically and circling him, seeming to stop short of giving him a poke. “You look so...normal.”

“Yes yes, Jongdae said as much too,” Baekhyun waves a hand, seeming to let some sparkles fall from his fingertips for the benefit of his audience. “Choosing to not trust me and instead let me do some tricks capable only of those of us not considered human. Do the rest of you need a showing as well? Any more eruptions?”

There’s a beat of silence before everyone begins talking at the same time, questions and voices melting together while Baekhyun nods sagely, silver sparks still zipping around.

“Well, too bad because I’m only obligated to give three wishes to Jongdae, the request box is now closed,” Baekhyun says, and Jongdae had not been aware that there was in fact, a box. “But they can be whatever his heart desires, so feel free to flock to him about all of it. Also feel free to fight over me, I’ve always been into that.”

“There’s no rules? No catch?” Jongin speaks up around a yawn, and Jongdae thinks this probably should have been a question he asked in the first place. The situation spiralled out of his control rather quickly anyway though, no point in worrying about it now.

“None, anything Jongdae wants I can get for him,” Baekhyun shrugs, holding a finger up to keep Jongdae from speaking when he opens his mouth. “Except more wishes. Come on, I know that’s what you were going to say.”

“I wasn’t!” It is exactly what Jongdae was going to say. 

“ _How_ can you even do all of this? Are genies just omniscient?” Kyungsoo asks, and Jongdae thinks he probably should have thought of asking that too. He supposes that is why he has a crew and isn’t just running around the sea in a tugboat. “There can’t just be no consequences elsewhere from pulling things out of nowhere or changing reality.”

“Think of it this way,” Baekhyun says as he leans back against the ship’s rail, waving a hand in front of him again to make a multitude of shimmering threads appear, setting one as the main and pulling at it until the glittering tendrils shoot out in all directions. “There’s technically infinite possibilities to the universe, right? I can grab on to those possibilities, pull them from where they are a reality, and make them real in this reality. Every snap of my fingers just branches off into a new thread in the fabric of time, if you would. Simple.” 

“I mean, not really?” Jongdae frowns. The resounding silence seems to echo his sentiment.“Not simple, but it makes sense...I guess. Thanks for laying it out for the rest of us mortals.”

“Anything for my master,” Baekhyun says solemnly, and Jongdae thinks that Baekhyun is definitely just calling him that to annoy him now. The twinkle in Baekhyun’s eye seems to be the confirmation of that, and Jongdae gives him a long suffering stare in return.

“Kinks aside, have you used any of your wishes yet, Jongdae?” Minseok interjects in that patented way of his that seems to throw Jongdae under the bus but not give him a chance to react to it before moving on to his next point. One day Jongdae will be witty enough to get him back for all this. Maybe.

“I haven’t,” He says, and feels a bit affronted at how his crew sighs in what seems to be collective relief. “What? Did you think I’d have blown them all in the past hour on useless things?”

“Actually, I figured you’d probably have gotten tricked into using them while you were arguing, that seems more par the course for genie behavior than...whatever is actually going on here,” Kyungsoo says with a shrug and a gesture at Baekhyun, and his friend isn’t exactly wrong. It isn’t the hardest thing in the world to rile Jongdae up, and Kyungsoo would know. 

“Glad to know everyone has so much faith in me,” Jongdae huffs, but makes a mental note to have Jongin go search for the Creature Book later to verify all of this genie...ness. “I thought we could make use of the democracy we have running on this ship and decide on the wishes together. But I get the final say because it’s like, more of a dictatorship masquerading as a democracy. And I found the lamp.”

“Finding the lamp indeed makes you valid, O’Capitalist Overlord,” Baekhyun says seriously, lips twitching at the corners, and Jongdae isn’t sure if that’s any better or worse than being called Master. “Your wish is my command and all, that sort of thing.” 

“Are you like this to everyone who summons you, or is Jongdae just special?” Minseok asks with a raised eyebrow, before shrugging like he thinks better of wanting to hear the answer. “We can talk more about the wishes in the morning in any case, we need to get off this cursed island and restock our supplies.”

“Not fighting over wishes or using them all in one go? I’m surprised,” Baekhyun says, watching as Minseok drags Jongin off with him to prepare the ship to sail, and Jongdae grins fondly when Jongin looks ready to go back to sleep still, even through all the excitement. Jongdae just shrugs in his direction, because his crew has always been anything but conventional individuals.

Yerim is still eyeing the sparkles Baekhyun has been flipping between his fingers, and she jumps a bit when Baekhyun suddenly flicks a spray of them in her face.

“It’s rude to stare,” Baekhyun says with a grin, and Yerim huffs, quickly pulling Baekhyun into a debate and wiping a hand across her cheeks to try and detach the shimmer, to no avail. Baekhyun seems amused, shooting up more ☆ POOF ☆ sparkles into the sky when Yerim grabs his wrists.

“So,” Kyungsoo starts as they both stand there and watch the proceedings, Jongdae eyeing the glitter pooling on the deck with some curiosity. “I’m guessing this is just going to be another adventure now, isn’t it?”

“Something like that,” Jongdae shrugs somewhat helplessly, watching Yerim chase after Baekhyun and try to jam wayward sparkles down his shirt while he ☆ POOF ☆ s out of sight at the last moment every time. 

Jongdae wonders briefly about the stars that seem to accompany each ☆ POOF ☆ , but figures if he asked Baekhyun he would just tell him he needs more interactions with him to trigger that dialogue, or something equally nonsensical. He figures this train of thought means he’s getting the hang of Baekhyun’s confusing speeches.

The ship sets off, and Jongdae spares a glance to the lamp at his hip as they head into the open water before raising an eyebrow at Kyungsoo. “Don’t you trust me? Things always work out, and magic can only help us at this point.”

“Of course. I trust you with my life, Dae,” Kyungsoo snorts, but Jongdae feels incredibly fond at the sentiment, which he’s sure Kyungsoo means. “Now go get some rest, you’re responsible for taking care of our guest while he’s around. I need to make sure Minseok has us going in the right direction to get us back to civilization.” 

Kyungsoo pats Jongdae on the shoulder once before grabbing Yerim as well, shooing her over to Jongin so they can argue over who will take the first night shift. Baekhyun seems nonplussed by the disappearance of his amusement, and is floating upside down in the air when Jongdae grabs him by the arm to pull him back down to the deck.

“Come on, I’ll give you the grand tour,” Jongdae says, pulling Baekhyun along after Baekhyun makes peace with gravity again, only vaguely surprised at no stars or sparkles of capitalized poofs following them. “Welcome aboard The Thunderbolt. Excuse the name, I didn’t pick it but apparently it’s bad luck to change a ship’s name, and the rest of them are superstitious enough that here we are.”

“It’s quite a nice ship for your ragtag crew to be running around on,” Baekhyun says as Jongdae drawls out rather obvious features on the ship, Minseok leaning on the wheel and watching them with some amusement. “You’re a terrible tour guide. Maybe that should be one of your wishes?”

“Yes, well, it was the best Kyungsoo and I could steal off of the navy at the time,” Jongdae shrugs, feeling a bit pleased that Baekhyun looks impressed. Jongdae feels a bit validated because it was well, impressive at the time, as was Junmyeon’s expression when he saw them sailing into the distance on his ship. A pebble hits his head and he glances up to the crow’s nest to see Yerim pouting down at him. “Yerim too. She would like it to be known that she was there.”

Another pebble hits him and he adds on, “We couldn’t have done it without her.”

“And I’m going to go ahead and ignore your slander of my guide skills to remind you that family meeting time on the wishes has been pushed back to the morning,” Jongdae continues, corralling Baekhyun back around to his cabin. He really just wants to sleep now, but it brings another important question to mind. “Do you even sleep? I’m assuming Jongin hasn’t found the book yet, but have I unlocked some more genie lessons?”

“Genie physiology lessons, get the class right at least, Jongdae,” Baekhyun says, rolling his eyes that are now a bright blue Jongdae notices, the color tinging his silver hair as well. “But for your information I do sleep. I hope you have something comparable to the nice bed in my lamp, I’m accustomed to some luxuries.”

Jongdae stares at Baekhyun like he wonders what universe he came from— but then thinks that that could be a valid question as well.

“You’ll have the finest cot I can offer you,” Is what Jongdae snorts instead, pushing open the door and toeing off his boots before gesturing to the spare cot in the corner of the room. Baekhyun seems a little judgey, and Jongdae wants to roll his eyes at him. “Don’t look at me like that, this isn’t the Lionheart. Feel free to redecorate if it isn’t to your liking.”

Jongdae can’t be bothered to change hits his bed face first and doesn’t look back to Baekhyun when he hears him say _oh I will_ , and the following crack of knuckles, feeling himself drift off slowly.

Not quite the adventures he was expecting, but strange enough that he’s willing to make due.

 

…

 

_xx19 +1 day, the western sea, open water_

 

Jongdae wakes up when his bed dips, something distinctly lamp shaped digging into his hip, and opens his eyes to see silver eyes much too close to his face.

He doesn’t want to undermine his fragile masculinity by saying he squeaked, but it was definitely in the realm of a shrill yelp.

“Good morning to you too,” Baekhyun grins, looking far too happy, and Jongdae wonders if he bludgeoned Baekhyun with his lamp, would he die? More questions for Genie Physiology class. “I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up, I tried following Kyungsoo around but he kept giving me these weird looks and just told me to—”

“What did you _do_?”

“Oh, all this?” Baekhyun looks smug, and Jongdae wants to grab him by the ends of his now light pink hair and maybe toss him off the ship. Can genies drown? Another note for class. “You did say I could redecorate, I just followed the suggestion.”

Jongdae’s rather plain cabin is now significantly...less plain than he remembers it being. What had been a cot on the other side of the room is now a lavish bed, somewhat at odds with the size of the cabin in general. The rest of the room has trinkets hanging haphazardly from curtains, lining Jongdae and Kyungsoo’s mapping table, and generally making everything a somewhat glittery mess.

“Are you sure you aren’t a dragon? Aren’t they the ones that...hoard like this?” Jongdae grunts, rubbing a hand over his face and wondering why it is that no one thought to come wake him up during the likely commotion. They probably thought things would be more amusing this way, he thinks, getting off his bed so he can wash his face in the basin.

“Well, seeing as you don’t seem to be in any kind of hurry to use your wishes, I just thought I’d make myself comfortable,” Baekhyun shrugs, and Jongdae wonders if he’s reading the hopefulness in Baekhyun’s eyes correctly. Seventy years is a long time to go with limited contact, he supposes, and so he gives Baekhyun some morning snark leeway as Baekhyun bounces softly on his bed. “All the comforts of the lamp without the hyperdimensional realm and all that jazz.”

Jongdae snorts, unclipping the lamp from his belt, letting it bounce away on the ground so he can change out of his still cavern dirtied clothes, and Baekhyun floats up from the bed to retrieve the lamp, looking somewhat soured as he waves it in Jongdae’s direction.

“Can you stop throwing my lamp around so much too? It’s rude to do that to someone’s home,” He grumbles, and Jongdae raises an eyebrow, rooting around in the mess for some clothes that are decidedly less...covered in the feeling of yesterday’s romp around the genie cursed cavern.

“Well to be fair, I don’t think it can get any more dinged up that it already is,” Jongdae says while repressing a small smile, because somehow poking fun at Baekhyun’s lamp seems to be his favorite running gag of the moment. Save the ☆ POOF ☆ -ing. “No offense.”

“You are the most offensive human to ever have my lamp,” Baekhyun says with a roll of his eyes, then seems to pause for a moment as he thinks better of the statement, flopping back on the bed and covering his face with the lamp while Jongdae gets decent again. “Alright that’s a lie, I’ve had much worse that weren’t even cute to make up for it. But in any case try to keep my lamp close, if you lose it then you’ll lose me and my wishes. I’m still technically attached to it, corporeal as I may seem, and the owner controls the wishes.”

“And we wouldn’t want to lose our dear genie, now would we?” Jongdae snorts, but he does pull the lamp back from Baekhyun’s hands and hook it securely onto his belt just in case. “I’m surprised that you don’t want to just bang through my wishes and hop back in the lamp. Isn’t that what genies are usually after?”

He really needs to find that book, he thinks, and hopes that someone found it as he grabs on Baekhyun’s wrist to pull him up off the bed and drag him out towards the deck. 

“Genies in general possibly, but I like being in the human world more, and if I’m stuck attached to this lamp for the rest of my little sentence then, I’d like to spend as much time here as I can,” Baekhyun shrugs, letting Jongdae pull him along and Jongdae wonders if he’s imagining the red tint that the tips of Baekhyun’s hair take on before fading back to pink. “And you aren’t the worst company to have. Cute, friendly, no forcing me to conquer lands or fulfill weird fetishes or make eldritch abominations….yet. So don’t get any ideas.”

“Do you ever get tired of flirting?” Jongdae rolls his eyes before letting go of Baekhyun’s wrist to wander over to the starboard rail and squint against the morning sun, eyes adjusting to take in the miles and miles of crystal water around them. Mornings like this, surprisingly filled with magic and unexpectedness as they may be, remind him of why he wanted this life.

“Nope!” Baekhyun chirps, not an ounce of shame in him as he reaches out to pull on one of the gold hoops in Jongdae’s ear to get his attention back on him before using it to turn Jongdae’s head back to the center of the ship. “But I think you’re late to your little meeting, just so you know.”

Kyungsoo looks decidedly less than pleased as Jongdae finally notices him tromping towards them, batting Baekhyun’s hand off his ear when Baekhyun starts pulling at it at will. Maybe he’s into earrings, Jongdae thinks, as it would certainly explain the long stare when Baekhyun first came out of the lamp. The thought makes him want to snort, but he represses it to shoot Kyungsoo a winning smile.

“Come on, I gave you some leeway for your supernatural adventures yesterday, but it’s time for business now,” Kyungsoo huffs, flicking Jongdae in the forehead before giving an about face and not giving Jongdae the time to whine about it as they make for below deck. 

“I didn’t exactly have control over those supernatural adventures,” Jongdae grumbles to himself as Baekhyun chuckles, tapping at the red mark on Jongdae’s forehead until it fades and smiling when Jongdae’s nose wrinkles at the small shower of sparkles. “But you’re right, time for super serious family meeting time.”

Jongdae thinks that super serious family meeting time™ probably leaves something to be desired as usual, not only because Minseok and Jongin are the only ones actually related, but more due to the disorder and bickering echoing as they descend down the stairs. Minseok and Yerim are playing cards again over the spread of what Jongin as managed to put together from what food they have left, and Minseok looks inordinately smug as Yerim fumes, Jongin’s head drooping half asleep in his rice bowl.

It’s always been like that with them though, and so he only fondly shakes his head.

“Look alive everyone, we have some things to discuss with our guest of honor here,” He calls out, and Yerim sits down from where she had been standing to reach for Minseok’s neck, all of them looking to the three of them as they sit at the long table. He spies the Creature Book next to Jongin as well and perks up a bit more. “You found the book too, Jongin? Wow, look who’s the new favorite.”

“Implying I’m not _always_ the favorite,” Jongin smiles a bit, seeming considerably more awake, and tosses the book to Jongdae’s waiting hands, who in turn lobs it at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun sputters, hair back to its original silver, and Jongdae grins.

“Go ahead and take a look at the pages on genies, would you?” Jongdae can tell Baekhyun is torn between his curiosity on the book and his desire to slap it back in Jongdae’s face. It’s incredibly amusing to see his nose scrunch up, maybe a little cute. “It can help our genie lessons if you know what knowledge we’re working with. The humans have business to discuss here too, if you could keep the snark and flirting to a minimum.”

“A truly herculean task, I assure you,” Baekhyun rolls his eyes, but thumbs through the pages anyway, face twisting in various ways as he skims the pages. He snaps his fingers and a pen appears, and Jongdae wonders if maybe he should have had a bit more care in giving one of their more valuable possessions to an unpredictable genie. Kyungsoo has his eyes narrowed at him like he thinks the same, but spares telling Jongdae as much.

Hoping briefly that Baekhyun won’t just draw pictures all over the book, Jongdae turns back to the task at hand, plucking an apple to munch on off the center of the table before smacking a hand down.

“Back to the business at hand, I have some wishes to spend,” Jongdae starts, ignoring Baekhyun’s mumble of _three, not some_ and kicking at Baekhyun’s ankle under the table. “And we should talk about them.”

Yerim raises her hand immediately and Jongdae nods sagely in her direction.

“Wish for treasure, treasure, and more treasure,” She says, waving her fork around hard enough that Jongin is nearly a casualty, ducking out of the way at the last moment. “It’s what we’re always looking for right? Wish for enough treasure that we can buy our own kingdom. That shouldn’t be too hard for Baekhyun, unless he’s all talk after all.”

“Kid, I could fill this ship with so much treasure it would sink like a stone,” Baekhyun snorts, looking up from his writing for a moment to raise a brow. “But I was hoping for a bit more creativity than that, I’ll be honest.”

Yerim looks like she’s contemplating stabbing Baekhyun with the fork, so Jongdae plucks it from her hands before she can get the opportunity. Not that he can’t relate, but family time isn’t for stabbing each other’s eyes out.

“I think we shouldn’t use all the wishes at once, maybe ration them out,” Minseok, ever full of rational ideas, says. Jongdae thinks that convincing Minseok to join up with their barely a crew on their run through the Siren Archipelago may have been their best accomplishment yet. “Baekhyun doesn’t to seem to be in any kind of hurry here anyway.”

“Not a bit,” Baekhyun shrugs without looking up, seeming very intent on the book. “I can make whatever I want inside my lamp, but it’s lonely. You all are much more fun, other genies are just...not as novel as humans. You all have such funny ideas of us.”

He gestures at the book and shoots a wink at Jongdae while he says _fun_ , and Jongdae wonders if he should give him a treat for keeping the flirting to the minimum. He chucks the apple at Baekhyun instead, and definitely doesn’t pout when Baekhyun catches it instead of being boinked in the head like he’d meant to.

Jongdae takes that moment to peek over at what notes Baekhyun has been writing into the Creature Book, and heaves a heavy sigh at the sigh at the sight that greets him.

There are certainly some notes in brackets beneath the text, but Baekhyun is definitely mostly just drawing cats all over the genie pages. Jongdae can’t say he’s surprised or disappointed exactly, but the cats are really ugly looking.

“They reminded me of you,” Baekhyun says with sweetness so artificial Jongdae can almost feel it dripping onto the table. He is not that ugly.

“Like your scribbles are any better, he has the mouth down at least,” Kyungsoo snorts when Jongdae voices his thoughts on said ugly cats and his devastating levels of attractiveness, and Jongdae feels somewhat affronted. Kyungsoo just doesn’t have refined enough tastes to appreciate his masterpieces or good looks. “But I do have a thought.”

“Don’t leave us in suspense then,” Baekhyun says, leaning his face on his palm and putting down the pen to pass the book back to Jongdae, seeming finished with his task. “What suggestion do you have to offer?”

Jongdae skims Baekhyun’s notes, around the scribbles, some text about immortality and magical beings scratched out in favor thick text proclaiming that genies are _not so different from humans, besides the whole non-human magic stuff_ and a list of different types of genies accompanying it scribbled in the margins. 

_Elemental_ Djin, Jan, Ifrit, Marid _SEHUN!!!_ , and Reality Warping + Wish Granting are all listed, but WISH GRANTING is capitalized, circled and starred appropriately, and the tiny 'ㅅ' face at the end reminds him of Baekhyun a bit. 

“Why don’t you wish for El Dorado, Jongdae?” Kyungsoo’s voice snaps him back out of his thoughts, and Jongdae can’t do much more than blink blankly at him. The rest of them voice loud approval at Kyungsoo’s suggestion, and Jongdae is sure he can see the phantom images of all the riches of the fabled city of gold floating above their heads. “That way even if it is just a myth, then Baekhyun could make it reality, if I’m understanding the whole reality warping explanation correctly.”

“Correct!” Baekhyun shoots some sparkles in Kyungsoo’s direction, and Kyungsoo stabs at the meat on his plate viciously. “That would be quite exciting, you could probably become the Pirate King with El Dorado under your name. Just phrase it as a wish and it’s yours, though I’m not sure if that would make me look like a gold digger for continuing to pursue pirate royalty.”

Jongdae hadn’t even considered being royalty, or rather the Pirate with the biggest cache of treasure to their name at any given moment. He’s pretty sure that since Kris’s retirement, the title belongs to his successor and Jongdae’s forever rival, Lu Han. Jongdae is still sore about having to watch Lu Han’s crew sail away with the Black Pearl, and thinks this might be his very own redemption arc in the making.

“Flirting to a _minimum_ , we are trying to have business time!” Jongdae says instead, shaking his head to clear it, fighting down an eye roll at Baekhyun’s somewhat endearing flirting attempts. Honestly, what pirate _doesn’t_ want to go down in history for the treasure they find? But… “But I don’t think I want to wish for that.”

There’s a beat of silence where he’s greeted with mostly staring, and Jongdae tries to flash a winning smile.

“Jongdae,” Kyungsoo says slowly, like he thinks that Jongdae has lost his damn mind and won’t understand words anymore. Baekhyun looks extra surprised even, giving Jongdae a look he can’t quite decipher. “I’m not sure if you heard me, but the _entire reason_ we became pirates is dangling in front of you and you are trying to turn it down. Would you like to explain to the rest of us what is going on in your empty head right now?”

“But that isn’t the real reason, you know that,” Jongdae tsks, feeling his smile grow a bit shyer. “Fame and fortune is great, and I do want it obviously, but we’re all here for adventure and the sea, right? What fun would it be to have all that clout to your name without having earned it?”

“It would certainly make for an easier meal, but if that’s what the Captain wants,” Minseok shrugs, sharing a fond look with Kyungsoo while Jongin snickers and Yerim simply rolls her eyes. “What do _you_ propose then? They are your wishes after all.”

Jongdae is going to be honest, beyond what he intended to be a very moving speech about treasure not being everything and finding success on your own merits about five seconds before, he hadn’t exactly planned an end game. Maybe he should have drawn out an outline.

“You truly are one of the most unique humans I have ever met, let alone pirates,” Baekhyun laughs slightly, eyes a sparkling silver as he leans back from the table. “If you want everything done on your own, I’m afraid my presence won’t be much help here, but I have have a solution to meet you halfway.”

“Go on,” Jongdae urges, because maybe Baekhyun would be willing to write his outline for him here, and save him some of the work. Baekhyun’s smile is dazzling, and Jongdae wonders if he should cover his eyes before the genie starts speaking.

“Wish for a compass to show you the way to El Dorado,” Baekhyun says, grin only seeming to grow in size as everyone mulls over his words. “Oh how exciting, I’ve never been able to help in the whole wish making process. It’s always Baekhyun I wish for this, Baekhyun I wish for that, Baekhyun I’m tired of you, go back in your lamp now to wallow in loneliness and lacking in affection. _And_ this is totally just like Pirates of the Caribbean, you probably don’t have that in this reality either but trust me, it’s very cool.”

Jongdae has no idea what Baekhyun is referencing, as per usual, but he seems very excited about it so Jongdae is willing to let it slide. Any more excitement and Baekhyun might bounce straight through the ceiling, and Jongdae wonders if this is what he looks like to Kyungsoo when he’s excited.

“This way you get the satisfaction of using all your own sailing prowess and whatnot, but you’ll definitely be on the right direction to fame and fortune still,” Baekhyun finishes, eyes curving up with his smile. “Tell me that isn’t an excellent first wish. I’d make it myself if I weren’t you know, chained to your desires and all that.” 

“Why does everything you say always end up sounding terrible in the end,” Jongdae grumbles, pushing his plate away to allow Jongin room to take it as he clears the table. “But that really isn’t a half bad idea. What does everyone think?”

“In the democracy that ends in dictatorship? I’m in favor of it,” Jongin speaks up first surprisingly, balancing plates in the crooks of his elbows before enlisting Yerim’s help. “I think it’s a good idea as any, we certainly aren’t going to get any easy wishes with how stubborn you are.”

“As a mule, ever since we were kids,” Kyungsoo sighs, but Jongdae catches the smile forming on his lips and grins back. “I’m fine with it too, at least we’ll be guaranteed more than an empty chest with a demon inside it at the end of this journey.”

“Ditto,” Yerim says eloquently, balancing the plates as Minseok takes pity on her and Jongin, stepping up to help and giving a hum of agreement as well.

“Perfect! Then all that’s left is the magic words,” Baekhyun looks a bit smug, and Jongdae resists another kick to his shins under the table. “Genie magic is quite particular, so be sure and then give me the good old _I wish_ and it will happen.....adding on any kind of compliments and flattery to my name can only help as well.”

“You’re strange even by genie standards, I imagine,” Jongdae snorts, but cracks his knuckles before laying his hands open palmed in front of Baekhyun. “Oh Great Genie Baekhyun, I wish for a compass that will show me the way to El Dorado.”

Baekhyun laughs loudly at the epithet, but claps his hands together regardless, brows furrowed in a moment of concentration before separating his hands to reveal a palm sized black box. He deposits it in Jongdae’s waiting hands carefully, barely brushing the tips of his fingers before pulling away and looking quite pleased with himself.

“Wow, I expected a bit more fanfare to be honest,” Kyungsoo says to his left, and Jongdae can’t say that he thought any different, what with the last show of Baekhyun’s magic being turning the floor into lava and sending them screaming through the air on a carpet with a monkey tearing his hair out. He guesses magic and magical beings really aren’t that one dimensional, but it’s still interesting.

“Sometimes the magic speaks for itself,” Baekhyun shrugs, and Jongdae opens the compass to look inside, needle definitely not pointing northward. “That’s one wish down and two more left to you Mister Soon to be Pirate King. Use them wisely.”

“Just follow the needle and we’ll be swimming in gold, that’s it?” Minseok steps over to glance at the compass, plucking it from Jongdae’s hands and staring at the needle like he can intimidate it into revealing precise coordinates. “That seems easier than imagined.”

“Most things are, humans just make everything too complicated,” Baekhyun says, cracking his neck and eyeing the compass as it’s passed back to Jongdae’s hands. “Try living a century or two, it really puts things into better perspective.”

“Duly noted, though not very possible for us mortals,” Jongdae says, though he wonders if he could wish for it if he really wanted to. He doesn’t though, defying nature in those kinds of ways often seems to have consequences. “It seems to be pointing us eastward, which defies all the usual legend, so we had better stopover on the coast first, and then in Port Exodus to resupply again if the direction holds. Then we can be on our way to _actual_ fame and fortune.”

“If it’s Exodus then we can stop by and see Irene too,” Jongin says, smile stretching out his lips even as Yerim plops all of the dishes on him near the tub. 

“May as well draft a letter to Junmyeon too so you can send him into early cardiac arrest at the thought of you becoming the Pirate King,” Kyungsoo eyes the compass, and Jongdae can already see him attempting to trace out a map in his head. “And maybe _you know who_ will want to come along for the ride. Can’t say I would turn down some help on the quest for El Dorado now that it’s within our grasp.”

“Your mysterious sixth crewman?” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow at that, rising from the table with the rest of them and sticking close to Jongdae. Kyungsoo mentions going to check the maps to plot a tentative course, and Jongdae waves him and Minseok off as they go above deck to get them started on the correct route.

“Seventh as long as you’re along for the ride, but yes,” Jongdae lifts his shoulders a bit and wonders if maybe Baekhyun was a barnacle in his life before being a genie, hands held firmly onto Jongdae’s belt loops as he follows him above deck. “And he isn’t mysterious so much as he is forgetful and clumsy and incredibly prone to seasickness. He also ferries letters to my brother for me while doing whatever he does when he decides to run off the ship on land, so Junmyeon and my mom won’t worry too much while I’m off ‘seeking my death on the ocean’.”

“I’m part of the crew?” Baekhyun perks up at that, and Jongdae gives up trying to de-barnacle Baekhyun, not that much effort was being put forth in the first place. Jongdae chooses to ignore Baekhyun’s question and just nods, because what is his crew if not picking up every stray that comes along. Even genie ones. “What a filial pirate you are, your brother must be very straight laced to think that any job in this economy isn’t death seeking in some way.”

“He is, because he’s a captain too, but in the Navy,” Yerim chimes in from behind them, tool belt strapped firmly to her waist as she pushes past them to start the daily cannon maintenance. “The one we stole our ship off of. Jongdae has always been Junmyeon’s favorite though, so the whole star crossed family members hasn’t dampened his need to worry about him.”

“Your family must have some interesting dynamics going on that they don’t hate you,” Baekhyun releases Jongdae’s belt loops finally in favor of looking around the ship again, eyes finally settling on the clear sky above. “But that’s nice, you can tell him not to worry about you know that you have a devastatingly handsome genie here to take care of you. Word for word.”

“Junmyeon would lose his mind if I told him I’ve become involved with the supernatural,” Jongdae rolls his eyes and smiles imagining Junmyeon’s face. It’s been too long since he’s actually seen his brother, and he hopes one day soon he’ll be able to. Without Junmyeon threatening to arrest him, of course. “No handsome genie men are going to be mentioned.” 

“But you do admit I’m handsome,” Baekhyun’s eyebrows are doing something strange that makes Jongdae want to take back everything he’s ever said. Baekhyun’s hair seems to be changing to a sunny blonde now, and Jongdae thinks he should probably ask if Baekhyun is actually just a walking mood ring.

“Don’t push your luck,” Jongdae says, but he smiles a bit for Baekhyun’s benefit. Two can play at his game. “Let’s just say that if I’d met you at the bar and not inside a cursed cavern, there wouldn’t be a need for two beds in my cabin right now.”

Baekhyun sputters so hard that his face turns as red as his suddenly fiery hair, and Jongdae laughs loud enough that it rings across the entire ship.

“Come on, we’re putting you to real old fashioned human work until we find a port.”

 

…

 

_xx19 and ~~some change~~ ~~you’re a terrible recorder, jongdae~~ five weeks, the eastern border, Port Exodus_

 

Life with Baekhyun added to it is interesting.

He’s as much likely to flirt (how seriously, Jongdae isn’t sure still) and spout off about things that Jongdae doesn’t understand and Baekhyun won’t explain because of something about _breaking reality and the time space continuum_ which are whatever as far as Jongdae is concerned anyway, as he is to engage in witty banter or seriously try helping around the ship, bouncing around between Kyungsoo and Minseok and Yerim, even Jongin occasionally.

It’s somewhat endearing and definitely lively to Jongdae, as Baekhyun always recounts his days exploits to Jongdae every night, usually somewhat literally bouncing around the room. He is especially excited after their first stop on the way to Port Exodus, eyes practically sparkling in the low lamplight as he tells Jongdae how he and Yerim bartered down the fruit seller while Jongdae had been having a time of it with Kyungsoo at the local cartography guild, compass in hand as Kyungsoo tried finding the appropriate maps.

He learns little things about Baekhyun, that make him believe the _not that different from humans!!!!!_ scribbles after all, because for all his casual magic and reality warping, Baekhyun is just as nuanced as the rest of them. Jongdae now knows that he hates cucumbers, loves small animals, enjoys taking up Jongdae’s space at all times and whines in his sleep like demons are coming for him until Jongdae inevitably toes his way over to Baekhyun’s overly lavish bed to comb his fingers through his hair and smooth his brow until Baekhyun settles again.

He even gets the rest of Baekhyun’s legendary but somehow incredibly mundane breakup story out of him one night when they’re the only ones left drinking at the table, hair a soft charcoal as he recounts that it was _bad for the both of them, there may have been a sea monster involved on my part, but she didn’t have to wish me stuck in the lamp for an extra hundred years. I don’t know if this was better or worse than the incident with the oreos in that other timeline_. 

Jongdae didn’t really know what Baekhyun meant by that, per usual, but had let him rest his head on his shoulder anyway, rubbing soft circles on the back of Baekhyun’s neck as Baekhyun slurred that Jongdae restored his trust in cute pirates. He noted that genies can get piss drunk apparently too, having switched to rubbing Baekhyun’s back later on as he emptied his stomach over the side of the ship.

He comes to the realization that Baekhyun fits in with them just fine, ☆ POOF ☆’d and sparkled and memed his way into their daily life, and wonders how long he can prolong his wishes before it just seems selfish.

It gives him the even bigger old _oh shit, you have some feelings_ revelation, and Jongdae isn’t too sure how he feels about that.

“This really is so much better than being stuck in the lamp,” Baekhyun says one night before they dock at the big port, Kyungsoo having commandeered the room earlier for his cartography while the rest of them played cards below deck, compass and lamp weighing heavy on Jongdae’s person now that everything seems so much closer. “I like it here.”

Baekhyun’s eyes are closed but Jongdae is sure if they were open they would match the pink silveryness of Baekhyun’s hair, that Jongdae has learned to read as Baekhyun’s body’s way of expressing happy contentment.

Baekhyun’s answer on his mood ring curtains and drapes seemed to boil down to _put that under the question mark section of genie physiology_ but Jongdae thinks it’s kind of endearing too. Kyungsoo has told him they could make a drinking game over how many things Jongdae finds endearing about Baekhyun, and Jongdae feels like he’s having a flashback so he just pushes Kyungsoo hard enough that he falls off the bench and takes Jongdae down with him, Baekhyun laughing all the while.

He likes Baekhyun being here too.

“Yeah, good thing I’m not in a hurry to use any of my wishes then,” Jongdae is aware that he is being a coward to anything but casual flirting, but there is nothing in the Creature Book about emotional intimacy with the supernatural. He can’t even handle emotional intimacy with regular humans.

He lets himself comb his fingers through Baekhyun’s shimmering hair for a moment anyway, Baekhyun humming softly as Jongdae scratches along his scalp, and Jongdae wonders if Baekhyun would sputter at an invitation into his heart as much as he did a joke about his bed.

Baekhyun pulling on Jongdae’s earring for the fourth time in an hour to get him to look at something snaps him out of the memory, and Jongdae starts thinks back on his previous theory that Baekhyun may have A Thing for earrings.

“Come on Jongdae, there’s so much to see on land,” Baekhyun grins and Jongdae reaches out to flick pull on the chain of Baekhyun’s earring in revenge. He stiffens a bit before continuing to drag Jongdae along, and Jongdae thinks _oh yes, definitely a thing_.

“And here I thought you liked it on the ship,” Jongdae laughs, Kyungsoo and Minseok off to do the usual errands before a longer voyage, Jongin and Yerim visiting Irene at the bar she runs. Jongdae has a letter tucked in his pocket assuring he and Baekhyun will end up there as well, but Baekhyun seems so happy to run around the outdoor stalls and shops that Jongdae figures a little detour won’t hurt.

“Of course I do, but there’s only so much variety there. I like seeing all the wares humans have to offer,” Baekhyun shrugs, getting distracted at the sight of a jewelry shop and grabbing Jongdae’s wrist to pull him over to look at the display. “Genies have no respect for craftsmanship, just because I can you know...do the poofy thing and make things exist doesn’t mean it’s more special than someone’s hard work.”

Jongdae thinks he may swoon a little right there. Nothing hotter than a man sharing your worldview.

“Say humans a little louder, just make sure everyone knows you aren’t one,” Jongdae snorts out instead, another excellent swerve on dealing with his emotions, and he cuffs Baekhyun on the back of his head instead, his silver hair already doing an excellent job of making him stand out. “May as well go around screaming that we’re p-i-r-a-t-e-s, so the Navy can have a two for one deal if someone gets word.”

“You don’t have to spell it, I’m pretty sure everyone here above two can piece that together, Jongdae,” Baekhyun rolls his eyes, letting go of Jongdae’s wrist to pick up a bracelet glittering with gems that seem to be rubies. Baekhyun’s eyes flash a moment to match the red shade, and Jongdae swallows a hard gulp. “What did I say when we met? The pretty ones are always the most empty headed.”

“If that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black,” Jongdae reminds himself that yes, Baekhyun is actually infuriating half the time, caught feelings or not. “Come on, I need to pass on this letter and see if our ever disappearing friend is up for another treasure hunt or if he’s going to keep mooning after Junmyeon. We can come back here another time if you want to buy something.”

Jongdae knows sparkling eyes is just an expression, but with Baekhyun it turns into more of a reality.

“You’d really buy me something? Even though I could just snap it into existence?” Baekhyun’s smile is so big Jongdae can see the gaps between his cheeks, and feels inordinately flustered as he nods and leads them towards Lucky Girl. He feels more like a lucky boy right now, with Baekhyun looking at him like that, and snorts at the thought. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone has thought about doing for me in almost a century. Are you sure you’re really a pirate, Jongdae?”

“What did I say about announcing that?” Jongdae grumbles, but pulls Baekhyun along by his sleeve anyway, weaving their way through the remainder of the stalls until the bar comes into view. “We’re trying to keep a low profile here. Now let’s go finish our business here so we can get back to our inevitable fame and fortune!”

“Why are you so dodgy about this fabled extra crewman that we’re meeting, anyway?” Baekhyun huffs, eyeing the outside of the bar with some interest and prying Jongdae’s hand off his sleeve in favor of going back to his wrist. “Is he deformed or something? You make him sound like a walking disaster.”

“I’m not dodgy,” Jongdae says as he pushes the door open, scanning around until he sees Jongin and Yerim leaning over the bar to chat with Yerim. Chanyeol sits between them looking comically out of place with his gangly limbs spread out and shock of red hair, and Jongdae can’t help the tiny smile on his lips as he adjusts his grip on Baekhyun’s wrist to weave them up to the counter next to Jongin. “Chanyeol just kind of speaks for himself, you really have to meet him to understand.”

“Wait, did you say _Chanyeol_ ,” Baekhyun’s eyebrows hit his hairline as he follows Jongdae’s line of sight, and Jongdae tilts his head in confusion, because the name isn’t incredibly common but why would Baekhyun recognize it unless—

“Baekhyunnie!” Chanyeol is on his feet immediately, flailing his way somewhat dangerously away from Jongin and Yerim the moment he sees the two of them, and Jongdae can’t do much more than stare because well, he thinks he should probably be used to the weird situations by this point but somehow he still just feels like boo boo the fool.

He definitely feels this way as Chanyeol somewhat fly tackles Baekhyun, nearly taking Jongdae’s arm off in the process as it was still very much attached to Jongdae’s person. He wants to remind Chanyeol that he needs that arm for a great many things, but he’s a bit too caught up in the fact that Baekhyun and Chanyeol clearly know each other.

“You finally got out of the lamp! I heard from Sehunnie that you’d been harassing him again but I didn’t think it was in the human world,” Chanyeol’s grin is huge as Baekhyun squirms his way out of Chanyeol’s grip, narrowly avoiding a flailing arm as Chanyeol gestures about. Chanyeol then seems to realize something else, and Jongdae wonders if they’ll be able to trigger some kind of nirvana with all these invisible realization lights popping over their heads. “Wait, your master is _Jongdae_? Wow, what a small world.”

“And you’re back to wooing pirates, I see...Jongdae is practically harmless at least,” Chanyeol adds as he eyes the way Jongdae and Baekhyun’s hands curl around each other’s wrists. Busted. “Much too big a softie to ever lock you up in a chest.”

“Who are you calling harmless, weirdo,” Jongdae huffs, giving up on trying to get anyone to not announce the p-word to anyone with a five mile radius. “I’ll have you know I am very feared and respected on the seas.” 

“You have no leeway to be talking about who is or is not weird, Jongdae,” Chanyeol says solemnly, and Jongdae refuses to admit that he is actually right. Jongdae’s life has consisted of one weird coincidence to another at this point.

“I think I do, considering you _know a genie_ ,” Jongdae fires back anyway, because he will have the last word if it kills him. “Which means that I was right all along and you are definitely not human. I knew no one completely human could lust after Junmyeon of all people so hard even with all those polite rejections.”

Jongdae almost snorts thinking about Junmyeon’s somewhat reluctant sounding explanations of Chanyeol’s wooing attempts, often ending in some kind of bodily harm for one or the both of them. Only Junmyeon could ever become endeared to this, and Jongdae thinks Chanyeol being something of a supernatural entity (probably) only seems to make more sense.

“I’ll have _you_ you know your much more attractive and charming brother actually agreed to go on a date with me last month and—”

“Can you two shut up for ten seconds, I thought I was going to have a touching reunion,” Baekhyun huffs finally, seeming to grow tired of the attention not being on him. Jongdae can relate. “It’s been _one_ other pirate Chanyeol, let me live, but I don’t think you have any room to talk since apparently you’re now part of a pirate crew?”

Chanyeol opens his mouth to reply, but Baekhyun flourishes his hand and with a ☆ POOF ☆ suddenly Chanyeol’s mouth is sewn shut, a spray of silver sparkles following the line of the thread. 

Jongdae is a little dazed thinking that Baekhyun didn’t deny anything about wooing him, and hasn’t quite caught up with the fact that they’re probably being way too obvious at this point about their whole magic and genies and pirates deal, especially if the way Jongin has his head in his hands is any tell.

“I’m not done, let me finish before you give me your excuses,” Baekhyun continues with a tsk, and steam seems to start coming out of Chanyeol’s ears. “He isn’t human, he’s an ifrit,” Baekhyun directs at Jongdae, and he vaguely remembers the little fire symbol drawn next to Baekhyun’s additions to the creature book. The increased steam and constant charcoal smell surrounding Chanyeol starts making sense. “Not nearly as cool as my wish granting self, but he can catch on fire or whatever. We used to pal around in the genie-verse all the time until _someone_ decided the human world was more interesting than poor trapped Baekhyun.”

“Now, do you have a good reason as to why you stopped visiting suddenly ten years ago? No phone calls?” Baekhyun cocks his hip, resting his hand there and looking very affronted. Jongdae tries to gauge his mood on his color coded hair, but it seems flickering between tinted shades of gray with no signs of settling. “To become a part time pirate of all things, if I’m understanding all of Jongdae’s crypticness correctly? And stop the smoking thing, people are going to think your brain is frying.”

“Well that _is_ around when he showed up on the peninsula,” Jongdae mumbles to himself, and finds himself wondering if the attracting genies thing runs in the family. Does Junmyeon know? Maybe he should edit his letter real quick. 

Baekhyun snaps his fingers and Chanyeol’s mouth unseals, steam finally easing up as he pouts at Baekhyun.

“What can I say, I was just trying to tour around the volcanoes and nurse some fire when I saw Jongdae’s brother being all adorable and almost falling into one,” Chanyeol looks dreamy, and Jongdae wants to roll his eyes. He remembers the Junmyeon-in-the-volcano incident, and thinks he will never understand the Navy’s training exercises. “So I saved him obviously, and then since he was so worried about Jongdae after he ran off to be a pirate, I started doing the...part time piracy, part time letter ferrier thing. Soon to be full time boyfriend, mark my words. I really didn’t forget about you, I was just...busy.” 

“Busy following your dick,” Baekhyun drawls, hand still on his hip but looking significantly more amused. “Typical.”

“It was just me and Kyungsoo and Yerim when Chanyeol showed up,” Jongdae chimes in, Baekhyun and Chanyeol engaged in some kind of stare off. “We needed all the help we could get, so part time or not Chanyeol got to tag along as long as he wasn’t telling Junmyeon _everything_ we were getting up to. And in return I don’t have to hear my brother getting waxed poetic about, so keep the sonnets to yourself Chanyeol.”

“I was thinking of sharing some haikus, but since you don’t appreciate them I’ll save them for when I pass your letter on. I know you have one, so hand it over,” Chanyeol puts his hand out and Jongdae fumbles in his pocket for a moment, fingers brushing over the enchanted compass for a moment before finding the rolled parchment. 

“We have a big haul coming up by the way, Yeol,” He says as he curls Chanyeol’s fingers around the letter. “I’m taking it you don’t want to come along?”

“Not really,” Chanyeol looks a bit sheepish as he pockets the letter, patting it securely. “Since you know about the whole Ifrit thing now I would...rather avoid the water if possible. Baekhyun can take my place as obligatory magical crew member, I’ll just get this to Junmyeon and see you when I see you.”

“So that’s why you were always barfing over the side of the ship every hour,” Jongin chimes in, and Jongdae nearly jumps out of his skin. He figures he should have expected the other present members of his crew would want to be in on the gossip too. “Everything makes a lot more sense now.”

“We probably should have figured this out sooner,” Yerim adds in, and Jongdae gives her a nod of solidarity. He’s sure that Kyungsoo will blow an _I told you so_ gasket when they tell him, if only for the fact he’s been saying for _years_ that something isn’t normal about Chanyeol. Jongdae had just figured he was sore about the height difference.

“I’m glad to have opened all your eyes to the supernatural,” Baekhyun says back over the din, moving back to Jongdae’s side after having spent a few moments whispering furiously back and forth with Chanyeol. His hair is back to silver though, so Jongdae figures he must be pleased. He can’t imagine Kyungsoo abandoning him to follow his dick for years and years, but he figures relationships must work a little different when time isn’t so consequential.

“Ah!” Chanyeol exclaims, interrupting Jongdae’s train of thought and quickly sending it into a full on high speed collision with at least fifteen other trains. “Lu Han is in town with his crew too! You should catch up with him before you shove out again. Unless you’re still on about that one sided rivalry?”

Jongdae blindly reaches for the first drink he spies on the bar counter, and downs it in one shot. 

“I’d really rather not, but I don’t have a one sided rivalry with him,” It definitely isn’t one sided, it is two sided and they have a very serious rivalry. The nuances of it are just too subtle for Chanyeol to see, and maybe Lu Han himself sometimes. He needs another drink. “I’m going to come out on top soon anyway, just wait. Our lead right now is the real deal, like main quest worthy.”

“You could always just make Baekhyunnie give you so much treasure that you’d win out over Lu Han’s find of the Black Pearl in a heartbeat,” Chanyeol shrugs, choosing to ignore Jongdae’s possibly somewhat irrational need for a rival. You would think he was a Shounen protagonist, and the look Baekhyun shoots Chanyeol says that he agrees, and he doesn’t even know half of the Lu Han situation. “You have to have some wishes left if he’s still here, right?”

“Jongdae here wants to do things the good old fashioned way,” Baekhyun says with a grin, flicking Jongdae’s ear as he sulks and nurses another drink, Irene rolling her eyes as she sets down another for when he finishes. “Can you believe he’s only used one wish?”

“Less talking, more drinking,” Jongdae grumps, “If I’m going to be talking to Lu Han at some point and he’s going to lord all his achievements over mine then I want to be able to forget about it in the morning. I can’t even brag to him about El Dorado because I haven’t found it yet, and if I say anything about the compass he’ll definitely try to steal it.”

“And that is a plot line that no one wants to follow, too dramatic,” Baekhyun says sagely, sliding onto the stool next to Jongdae’s letting their thighs press against each other as he plucks the drink from Jongdae’s hands. Jongdae is too busy trying to figure out Baekhyun’s ever confusing commentary to be too affronted, and hey, that’s an indirect kiss anyway, right?

He snatches his cup back from Baekhyun, hoping he doesn’t have a blush on his cheeks, and wonders if he sees residual sparkles in his beer. Why does everything about Baekhyun have to glow and sparkle so much? He wonders if he should ask him.

“So, can genies outdrink pirates?” Jongdae asks instead, and the grins that Baekhyun and Chanyeol send each other over his head in answer should probably make him feel nervous, but Jongdae doesn’t care much about that at the moment. He’s in a bit of a state of information overload, and nothing fixes that like avoiding your problems entirely.

Jongin sticks his hand out to call for another round, and Chanyeol raises his glass for a toast as Baekhyun jostles Jongdae’s shoulder with his own, leaning in to murmur lowly in his ear.

“Looks like Genie Physiology class is back in session.”

 

…

 

“Kyungsoo is going to be so mad,” Jongdae sighs, three sheets to the wind and leaning heavily on Baekhyun as they make their way out of the bar. 

Yerim and Jongin elected to stay behind a bit more to trade banter and stories with Chanyeol and Irene, but Jongdae felt it was his captainly duty to get back to the ship and check in with Kyungsoo and Minseok to make sure all of their supplies for the rest of the way had been secured. That is, if they aren’t holed up in a different bar themselves.

“Forget Kyungsoo, Minseok will be angrier that you drank without him if they aren’t still out,” Baekhyun snorts, essentially reading Jongdae’s mind. Jongdae just hums, resting his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder as they walk, now somewhat glad that they are essentially the same height. “Come on, I’ll get you fixed up, free of charge.”

Baekhyun’s arm slips from Jongdae’s waist for a moment, pausing in their trek through the alleyways back to the docks, and Jongdae wants to complain about it when Baekhyun’s hands cup his cheeks instead. It’s a scant moment of a touch, but Jongdae wonders if it’s genie magic that makes him see stars and galaxies reflected in Baekhyun’s sparkling silver eyes, or if it’s just because it’s Baekhyun, who he thinks might be magic itself.

Or he could just be drunk, and he wonders if being in Chanyeol’s presence rubbed off some of the need to spout poetry and subpar wooing techniques. 

A few more taps of Baekhyun’s fingers on his cheeks have the nausea and fuzziness in his head disappating, and for lack of knowing what to do Jongdae mostly stands there gaping like a dead fish, Baekhyun smiling at him fondly as he wraps an arm around Jongdae’s waist to keep leading him back. Jongdae wants to say he’s fine to walk on his own now, but who would he be to look a gift horse in the mouth?

“Why do you give me all these free little magical helping hands anyway?” He asks instead, somewhat thrilled when the Thunderbolt comes into sight and the lack of lit lamps seems to imply that no one is home. No hell to be caught from Minseok and Kyungsoo tonight, and he gets the added bonus of being able to ream them instead in the morning, pretending he wasn’t also absolutely trashed ten minutes before.

Yo ho yo ho, a pirate's’ life and all that jazz.

“I don’t know, what was it Minseok said that first night?” Baekhyun shrugs, somewhat of a non-answer that Jongdae doesn’t incredibly appreciate as they board the ship. Baekhyun lets go of him to walk ahead to their cabin, and Jongdae’s waist still feels warm against the cool evening air. “You’re just special, I guess.”

“Care to elaborate on special, O’Mystical Baekhyun?” Jongdae teases, because it isn’t often enough that he gets to rib and flirt at Baekhyun, usually falling more onto the victim side of that equation. He’s relieved to be back in his room again, going about his nightly routine as Baekhyun floats around between his trinkets. He’s accumulated so many that Jongdae has begun to wonder if they should start storing them below deck, or get rid of the second bed to make room.

But that is dangerous territory.

“If I say no will you leave me alone about it?” Baekhyun snorts, and Jongdae shoots him a grin that says _not a chance in hell_. Baekhyun touches the ground briefly so he can pace over floating, and Jongdae sits on his bed as he watches Baekhyun walk circles around the room, finally huffing and making his way back towards Jongdae.

“Fine, it’s because you _are_ special. You’re the only one to ever summon me from that lamp, pirate or not, that has cared about keeping me around this long for anything besides the wishes. You don’t back down from my teasing, you’re fun and smart and caring and all those good adjectives I could pull from any language across space time. I believe you’ve mentioned being devilishly handsome before too, which while cringey to hear and say, I can confirm.”

“You make me want to give you everything I can, from all the possibilities and realities I can pull from,” Baekhyun stops in front of Jongdae, knees knocking his, and Jongdae’s eyes are so wide he wonders if they look like saucers. He hadn’t expected Baekhyun to take him seriously, let alone lay what feels awfully like a confession of _real feelings_ on him. “Because I’m sure in all of them that me and you end up together—”

“Hey, Baekhyun?” Jongdae says suddenly, interrupting his spiel and reaching forward to hook his fingers in Baekhyun’s belt loops. If Baekhyun can be a little sappy and stupid, then so can he. “How selfish would it be if I wished for you to kiss me? If instead of inviting you into my bed, it was my heart too?”

“It would be selfish _and_ stupid. I’d never let you wish for something like that,” Baekhyun’s lips quirk like he wants to laugh, and Jongdae doesn’t appreciate it that much because he was trying _so hard_ to be smooth. All of that kind of fizzles out and dies when Baekhyun leans a knee on the bed beside Jongdae though, sliding forward into his lap and hands finding Jongdae’s cheeks again. “It would be a huge waste on your part, I’ve been trying to get into your heart all along I think. Your bed could use some work.”

 _Is that so_ is what Jongdae wants to say, but he’s cut off by Baekhyun’s mouth on his instead, and his brain short circuits anything witty he may have had left.

It’s short and soft and not what Jongdae is used to associating Baekhyun with, but it’s everything he wants and settles warm in his gut, making him feel drunk all over again. Baekhyun pulls back smiling, the big one that shows the little gaps between his cheeks, and Jongdae thinks that Baekhyun’s hair looks so much like pink cotton candy that he’s dying to touch it, eyes sparkling too (really, they are, it isn’t just his sappiness!). 

Baekhyun saves him the trouble of fumbling for words by kissing him again, getting his knee over Jongdae’s hip to roll them over on the bed, Jongdae hooking his knee over Baekhyun’s waist to pull him closer and make it easier to lean up and kiss him again. It’s sloppier this time, mouths sliding hot over each other as Jongdae winds his fingers through Baekhyun’s hair and thinks that yes, it’s soft like cotton candy too. Baekhyun laughs when Jongdae mumbles as much into the kiss, nipping lightly at his lips and wondering why the hell they didn’t do this sooner.

It feels a little anticlimactic, but Jongdae thinks that maybe everything doesn’t need some kind of great climax. Sometimes it’s nice to just let things happen, as the universe or threads of reality will it too.

“Could I wish to kiss you forever?” Jongdae says breathlessly against Baekhyun’s mouth, which should be listed as a cardinal sin as Baekhyun mouths over his jaw, lips closing around one of the studs in Jongdae’s ear and pulling slightly. Jongdae ignores his brain’s _CALLED IT_ in favor of a shaky breath. “It should go without saying that I think you’re pretty special too, right?”

“Mmm, I should think so, but if you aren’t going to stroke my ego then you could stroke something else,” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow, lips red as his hair suddenly is, slick with spit and that line was absolutely terrible but Jongdae still feels the warmth in his stomach suddenly plunge even lower. This should probably feel very fast, but Jongdae can’t really bring himself to care when they’ve been dancing around each other long enough that it feels like an eternity.

Also he’s a pirate, and there is definitely some booty to plunder here.

All other manner of wit and clever replies have all left Jongdae with an out to lunch sign, so he doesn’t answer Baekhyun in favor of sitting up and pushing Baekhyun back on the bed, glancing a kiss off the corner of Baekhyun’s lips because he can, before pushing his fingers under Baekhyun’s shirt.

Baekhyun hums as Jongdae breaks the kiss to pull his shirt the rest of the way off him, Baekhyun’s essentially rainbow hair now fluffed so hard it’s practically sticking up. Jongdae takes a long moment to drag his eyes down Baekhyun’s torso, hands tracing a fine line down Baekhyun’s chest and over his ribs. Very human seeming, and also very beautiful.

“What, did you expect me to have an udder under there or something?” Baekhyun says after a moment, grinning hard enough to outshine all the sparkles and glitter he’s ever created, and Jongdae changes his mind, because this is actually the most beautiful thing he has ever seen, even counting all the gold and treasure he could ever find. Even if Baekhyun is trying really hard to kill his boner right now. “Remember what I said? Just like humans? Unless you have some weird kink in which case, I like you enough to make sacrifices.”

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae pulls on the chain of Baekhyun’s earring to try and reprimand him as he uses all his mental strength to not laugh straight into Baekhyun’s face. Baekhyun looks incredibly pleased at this fact, dipping forward to smack a loud kiss against Jongdae’s cheek, trailing softer ones over the moles on his temple as his fingers play with the hem of Jongdae’s shirt. “I am begging you to shut up right now.”

“Your wish is my command.”

Baekhyun’s eyes are sparkling again, and Jongdae just rolls his eyes before pulling Baekhyun back on top of him, laughter lost in forever kisses, and under the soft weight of Baekhyun’s gaze and expectations Jongdae feels nothing but brightness ahead.

 

….

 

_xx19 and some very heavily implied sex later, the eastern border, Port Exodus_

 

Jongdae wakes up feeling pretty gross, all things considered.

It has been awhile since he’s had escapades like this, usually preferring to not entertain guests through the night and get himself cleaned up before the morning so he doesn’t have to face it naked and sticky and sweaty and all manner of other unpleasant side effects that come with sex. 

Right now he is definitely sticky and sweaty and incredibly naked, but he does have Baekhyun’s arms wrapped tight around his waist and thigh stuck between his legs, mouth breathing damp little puffs of air over his collar, and he thinks he can live with all the other unpleasant things.

That sounded gross, even in his own head, so he turns off the inner think machine for a moment in favor of pressing his face back into Baekhyun’s hair, hoping that the rest of the crew’s hangovers will keep them in bed at least a bit more so he can enjoy this moment to himself a bit more.

Jongdae is aware that tempting fate is real, but he’s never felt so much a victim of it as when seconds later there is a pounding on the door to his cabin.

He doesn’t answer immediately, choosing to curl into Baekhyun and bury in his face in Baekhyun’s neck while he pretends it isn’t happening. He is a great captain, and no one can tell him otherwise.

“Jongdae, come on,” Jongdae should have known it was Kyungsoo knocking, no one else can quite finesse pounding on a door to the point that it could splinter at any moment like Kyungsoo. Baekhyun stirs, looking all kinds of sleepy and sparkling and beautiful, and Jongdae resists the urge to coo. “I know you’re probably doing something gross in there, but I kinda need you out here.”

“How long can you ignore him before he kicks the door in, you think?” Baekhyun grumbles too close to Jongdae’s ear for his liking, tightening his arms as Jongdae half heartedly attempts to wiggle out of his grasp. He does manage to sit up, Baekhyun coming up with him. “Doesn’t he have any respect for the traditional cute and cuddly morning after scene?”

“Not very long, we’ve gone through three doors to my cabin. Kyungsoo is like both an unstoppable force and an immovable object at once,” Jongdae laughs slightly, letting Baekhyun pat down his hair and shutting his eyes with a hum as blunt nails scratch softly along his scalp. “I wish he would stop knocking like that though.”

“ _Jongdae_ ,” Baekhyun says, mouth a perfect ‘o’ for a moment before he lets go of Jongdae to slap his forehead. Jongdae comes to the realization seconds later and puts his head in his own hands because _fuck_. “You can’t just use that kind of wording because now—”

Baekhyun’s free hand snaps its fingers and with a ☆ POOF ☆ the knocking stops abruptly. Jongdae is kind of surprised an incident like this didn’t happen sooner.

“Can we just...pretend it didn’t happen?” Jongdae laughs, with enough grace to look sheepish at least. He wonders if he can just sweep this under the rug, is that the perk of dating a genie? Are they dating? Master to boyfriend seems like a downgrade, but this is possibly a talk for another time. Jongdae is willing to bet on yes by the way that Baekhyun looks at him with fondness even through the exasperation, though.

“God, you’re so lucky that I like you through your stupidity,” Baekhyun huffs, but swings his legs off the bed anyway. He pats at Jongdae’s cheeks and Jongdae feels like he just jumped in the ocean, squeaky clean but significantly less salty. “And _you’re welcome_. I give you too many freebies as it is, that’s number two for you. Please be more careful, there’s only one left.”

“You have another gentleman caller, Jongdae,” Kyungsoo calls through the door as Jongdae pouts, and it’s true that while the knocking may have stopped there is still very much the ability to yell to think about. “Please come talk to Lu Han so I don’t have to watch him and Minseok flirt any longer and we can _go_ already. If you aren’t out here in five minutes I’m sending in Yerim.”

Jongdae groans and pitches his head forward to rest on Baekhyun’s shoulder for a moment. He really didn’t want to have to deal with Lu Han, but such is life. Baekhyun’s fingers stroke softly at the hair at the base of his neck, and Jongdae wonders if he can get away with ignoring the outside world for a bit more.

Kyungsoo calls his name again, and Jongdae thinks that unless he wants Kyungsoo to kick another door in, then no probably not.

“I’m coming, don’t get your pants in a twist,” Jongdae calls back, finally pulling himself away from Baekhyun and the bed, noticing that Baekhyun’s bed has now disappeared and allows him a much easier time of searching around the cabin. He rummages around for some clothes and throwing a shirt in Baekhyun’s sputtering face, stumbling through putting his boots on and hooking on his pistol and the lamp before grabbing Baekhyun and making his way to the door.

“I won’t as long as you get some pants on and get out here,” Kyungsoo grumbles to himself just before Jongdae slams the door open for dramatic effect. He will make an entrance to the situation at least, even if he belatedly realizes his shirt is on backwards. At least Lu Han will know he’s getting some. “Good, you’re dressed. Now go talk to Lu Han, you know he just wants to be friends.”

Jongdae rolls his eyes at Kyungsoo, telling him to get ready to sail anyway and makes his way over to the railing where Minseok is grinning wildly and yelling down to the dock. 

“There is no friends in _he keeps taking my treasures from me_ ,” Jongdae mutters to himself mostly, though Minseok aims his ever dazzling grin at him and Jongdae can’t be that mad. He directs his gaze down at Lu Han on the docks looking as irritatingly perfect as ever, and projects to him next. “I see you’re trying to steal Minseok too still then, is that right Lu Han?”

“Only if I’m succeeding,” Lu Han winks up at Minseok, to a laughing reply of _not on your life_ , and Jongdae wants to slam his head on the railing. Baekhyun snorts loudly, and Jongdae wants to call him a traitor for thinking Lu Han is funny. He is the only funny and witty and handsome pirate allowed around here. “I just wanted to drop by and give congratulations, I heard you have a big payoff on the horizon? Care to share the knowledge with me, so we can race like old times?”

“No?” Jongdae says back like a question, but he means it to be a flat no statement. Lu Han is kind of like a brother to Jongdae, but in the chaotic evil way to Junmyeon’s lawful good. Baekhyun seems to realize their bickering isn’t going to go anywhere anytime soon, and pats Jongdae on the butt before following Minseok over to the wheel to poke his nose in the preparations to sail instead. “Go find treasure of your own to hunt, I don’t need you horning in on my adventures.”

“Can’t you invite me up? Shouting like this is getting tiring,” Lu Han complains instead of taking Jongdae’s signal of please, leave me alone, dear God. Jongdae is about to give him the _hell no_ that is sitting on the end of his tongue when Lu Han ignores him and hops up the ramp anyway. “I also heard you got your hands on another treasure.”

Lu Han eyes Baekhyun, and then the lamp on Jongdae’s hip, and Jongdae groans. This is exactly why he didn’t want everyone yelling about genies and pirates and treasure plans inside the crowded bar.

“So what if I did?” Jongdae cocks his hip out in what he is sure is the epitome of a threatening pose.

“Well, have you used up all your wishes yet?” Lu Han seems unaffected by Jongdae’s threateningness, and Jongdae is only slightly hurt. “Because I’d like to take a crack at the lamp after you’re done and he goes back in.”

“Wait, goes back in?” Jongdae feels like he should have remembered this, but he kind of forgot Baekhyun’s speech about how many more masters he had to go until freedom. He beckons Baekhyun over, sighing when Baekhyun basically drapes himself over Jongdae’s shoulders. PDA in front of Lu Han is good though, because it shows off that he has a hot genie boyfriend (?) and Lu Han doesn’t. “Baekhyun, if I make my third wish do you go back in the lamp?”

“Oh, uh, yes?” Baekhyun scratches his head, looking sheepish. “I thought you figured that out? I was just hoping to get through the rest of sentence before you died, with any luck. If you still wanted me around.” Baekhyun is babbling, but Jongdae isn’t sure how to stop him. “That’s why I said to _be careful_ with your last wish, unless you don’t want the chance to say goodbye. You not dying for like, at least thirty years or so would be helpful too.”

“That means we aren’t just friends then, right?” Jongdae wants to confirm, a very smooth way of getting the talk in in his opinion, and Baekhyun looks at him like he’s a lunatic. “What, I had to confirm! It’s been bothering me.”

“I gave you a full drama confession! How was I supposed to make the whole _I have feelings for you_ thing any clearer?” Baekhyun huffs exasperatedly, knocking Jongdae’s hip with his own, but Jongdae thinks he shouldn’t be blamed. There are plenty of ways for this to have gone dramatically wrong, Baekhyun told him about the dramas before. “Yes, we are more than just friends. I’m in your heart, or whatever.”

Baekhyun’s hair is hot pink, and Jongdae has never been so charmed by an _or whatever_ in his life.

“Not that this isn’t all incredibly touching, Jongdae,” Lu Han interrupts, and Jongdae had low key forgotten he was there. Wishful thinking. “But I am definitely willing to tag along behind you in the Pearl until you use your last wish so that I can have my turn at actually wishing for useful things, judging by how you all here seem to be...exactly the same as the last time we met up.”

“I resent that, I get more handsome by the minute so we are not all the same as the last time I saw you,” Jongdae points out, and he hears Minseok bark out a laugh somewhere behind him. Jongin and Yerim are very unsubtly watching from below deck as well, and Jongdae feels validated his crowning moment of awesome is about to have witnesses. “Baekhyun, my wish can be anything I want, right?”

“Besides more wishes, yeah,” Baekhyun shrugs, and Jongdae can feel that Baekhyun is dying to tell him that he’s already told him that thirty times. He’s about to be really cool and clever though, and he doesn’t want Baekhyun to beat him to the punch.

“Well then I wish you were free _now_ of course then, no more masters or years in the lamp needed,” Jongdae feels incredibly proud of himself for thinking this up, and wonders why it didn't come to mind sooner. If Taeyeon wished Baekhyun a longer tenure in the lamp, then things have come full circle with Jongdae freeing him. “I wish you were free, Baekhyun.” 

He pulls the lamp off his belt and smashes it into the deck for dramatic effec toot, Lu Han jumping back a bit in surprise as Jongdae grins wide.

“Well fucking Mazel Tov,” Baekhyun mutters to himself as he glances at the shards of the lamp, obviously somewhat disbelieving as he snaps his fingers, nothing happening beyond a rather understated ☆ POOF ☆. He rounds on Jongdae then, poking a hard finger on his chest. “That could have killed me you know!

“Oh,” Jongdae hadn’t really thought of that. “I just thought you’d appreciate the dramatics of it all! And it clearly didn’t! Now you can have me while I’m still young and beautiful --”

Baekhyun shuts him up with a hand curled around the back of Jongdae’s neck, teeth clacking together as Baekhyun grins against his mouth, pressing a soft kiss to the curl at each corner and whispering a quiet _thank you_.

Jongdae hears some off beat clapping when Baekhyun pulls away, and glances over to see Jongin and Yerim high fiving each other furiously. He wonders if the two of them had a bet going on again, but Minseok going over to snatch coins from both their pockets seems to show who the real winner is.

“So as you can see,” Jongdae turns back to Lu Han, who looks a bit like a blob fish at having to have witnessed all their dramatics. Jongdae wouldn’t exactly blame him, except he does because Jongdae wants to lord everything he can over Lu Han’s head before Lu Han inevitably beats him at something else. “You’re going to have to find a genie of your own.”

“Fine,” Lu Han sighs, rolling his eyes and calling over Jongdae’s shoulder instead. “Though I would be totally fine with just a Minseok instead.”

“Enough flirting on this ship for a day, off with you,” Kyungsoo shoos Lu Han around, and Jongdae is somewhat glad because even Lu Han knows better than to try and manhandle his way around Kyungsoo. It leaves him the opportunity to stick his tongue out at Lu Han too, the absolute picture of maturity.

“Maybe next time Lu,” Minseok says after Lu Han’s back with a grin, and Jongin mumbles _stop encouraging him_ narrowly avoiding a cuff to the back of the head as Yerim laughs. Jongdae does love his crew.

“I’ll see you at El Dorado, Jongdae!” Lu Han waves as Kyungsoo keeps steamrolling him down the docks in the direction of the pearl. He already seems to be over the whole genie situation, and Jongdae thinks he envies Lu Han’s ability to bounce back from things. “When I find it first of course.”

Jongdae thinks the rumor mill must have come back to bite him on that one as well, but he isn’t worried. He has his compass after all, and he has another thought as he glances at Baekhyun’s still wide smile, he’s still ended up with the greater treasure in the end.

“I wonder if this counts as him acknowledging me as his rival,” He mumbles to himself, and Baekhyun rolls his eyes so hard that Jongdae thinks he can feel it in his own. Ouch. “Fine, whatever, I’ll let it go. Do you still want to stick around now that you’re free?”

Jongdae thinks he knows the answer, but now that Baekhyun is truly free to do whatever he wishes he feels that he should ask anyway. 

“Of course,” Baekhyun huffs, like the answer is obvious. “I can think of a few reasons, but I recall you saying I was part of the crew the other night.”

“Another mouth to feed,” Kyungsoo sighs, shaking his head as he passes them by on his way back up, but Jongdae knows the smile on his face is genuine. “I hope you still have some of that magic to spare to keep us fed while we follow that compass across kingdom come.”

“Anything for you, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun says sweetly, and with a snap of his fingers an apple falls from the sky to gently land in Kyungsoo’s dark hair. Kyungsoo gives him a withering glance, but takes a bite from the apple anyway, waving the fruit in Jongdae’s direction next.

“Anyway, we’re ready to set sail at your word, captain,” He says, giving Jongdae a mock salute that has him grinning.

“Well, off we go then,” Jongdae says decisively, flipping the compass out from it’s spot buried in his pocket. He’s somewhat glad he put on his pants from last night, or he probably would have looked silly rooting around for it. “Look alive everyone, we have some infinite riches to find.”

Jongdae feels fingers intertwine with his, and looks over to see Baekhyun’s eyes curved all the way up with his smile, kicking pieces of the lamp aside as he drags Jongdae over to the side of the ship to watch the port get smaller as the ship sets off.

“It feels like a cop out that you haven’t found El Dorado yet,” Baekhyun mentions casually after a beat of comfortable silence, and Jongdae resists the urge to scoff. “Do you think there will ever be a sequel?”

“Who needs sequels, we’re infinite,” Baekhyun gags at that little beside him, and Jongdae gives his hand a tight squeeze. The still pink tips of Baekhyun’s hair tell him that deep down, Baekhyun liked it. Thank goodness for mood ring hair. “Maybe we can write it all down in a novel someday. Junmyeon would probably read it at least.”

“A comforting thought that your brother would support you,” Baekhyun snorts, but hums when Jongdae rests his head on his shoulder. “So is this the _real_ start of another one of those adventures you’re so fond of mentioning?”

Jongdae glances up at Baekhyun’s face from his perfect zoomed in view, takes in the sparkle of his eyes and softness of his cheeks, sharpness of his jaw and brightness of his perfectly normal smile. He presses a wet kiss against Baekhyun’s neck because he can, laughing loud when Baekhyun recoils and pinches at his waist.

“Yeah, it’s something like that.”

The future really is bright after all.

 

 

 

…. _epilogue_.... 

 

_xx20, the eastern peninsula, navy headquarters_

 

 _Junmyeon_ , Junmyeon reads, cheek leaned on his hand as Chanyeol reads the end of the letter he just delivered to him over his shoulder. _Don’t worry about me, I have a devastatingly handsome genie man taking care of me now. You should get one too! Tell Yixing I say Hi!_

“Did Jongdae start doing drugs?” Junmyeon asks seriously, and Chanyeol barks a loud laugh into the back of Junmyeon’s neck. “I’m being serious, the pirate thing he’ll get tired of one day, probably, but drugs can do irreparable --”

“He’s fine,” Chanyeol grins, and thinks about the last time he talked with Baekhyun, his friend’s excited face reflected in the fire held in his palm and going on and on about life with Jongdae on the sea. “Just off on another adventure.”

Out in the middle of a city of gold, Baekhyun sneezes as Jongdae clasps a necklace boasting a glittering ruby in the center around his neck, stealing a kiss as he does.

All the treasure in the world, and Jongdae is still caught on the sparkle in Baekhyun’s eyes.

 

☆ POOF ☆

**Author's Note:**

> As long as everyone laughed at least once, then I'm happy! Thank you so much for making it this far! POOF :')


End file.
